By Daily Press staff
Noted for her commitment to her profession, her peers, and the children and families of her community, Sylvia Anderle, children’s and Latino outreach librarian for the Fairview Branch of the Santa Monica Public Library, has received one of the 2005 New York Times Librarian Awards. Now in its fifth year, the Times’ awards program honors librarians from around the country who provide outstanding public service and have a positive impact on their communities. This year’s 27 winners represent 13 states with more than 1,200 nominations coming from 48 states.
A selection committee composed of library professionals and a representative from the Times chose the winners. The Times held a reception in honor of the winners on Nov. 16, at which each winner was given $2,500 from the Times and a commemorative plaque.
A branch children’s librarian for 15 years, Anderle was nominated by Santa Monica Public Library staff and library patrons for the national honor. Having spearheaded Spanish-language family and toddler story times at the Fairview Branch that attract not only residents but also families from surrounding communities, Anderle’s work to improve the reading skills and lives of library patrons helped garner her recognition, officials said. A summer reading tutorial program begun by Anderle that pairs volunteers with children entering grades one through five has drawn more than 500 youth.
“To see how Sylvia welcomes children and their caregivers to her programs, to observe how she orients new immigrants to the library and to hear the advice that she gives colleagues is to see a great librarian in action,” wrote Susan Annett, the public services principal librarian at the Santa Monica Public Library, in her nomination to the Times.
Observing her commitment to serving the emergent literacy and readiness-to-read needs of the children and families of Santa Monica with her outreach and bilingual programs, former Friends of the Library board member, Ellen Mark, wrote to the Times, “I have witnessed the sense of empowerment that Sylvia has created among library users, particularly the Spanish-speakers, by increasing their ability to access information as well as deepening their love for reading.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 18, 2005. Read the original PDF.