Missy Creed
Consumer Health Librarian
The Ohio State University Health Sciences Library
Columbus, Ohio
Missy Creed is always on the move. As the consumer health librarian at The Ohio State University’s Health Sciences Library and the sole librarian within its Library for Health Information (LHI), she works both in and outside the library’s walls to get reliable health information into the hands of community members.
Creed has become a fixture at health outreach events, participating in 60 last year. She is regularly invited to participate in community health fairs and vaccination clinics, reaching more than 1,000 individuals to provide trustworthy and easily digestible health information covering a broad spectrum of topics. Recently, the LHI became an ambassador organization for the National Network for Libraries of Medicine’s Partner Outreach Program, which provides modest funding for five years to support small outreach events.
When she’s behind the desk at the library in Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center, Creed provides free and confidential reference services to patients and their families, medical center staff, and the public to help them better understand health conditions or treatments. While not medical advice itself, providing reliable health information can help patients start conversations with their health care providers.
“What I find so special about Missy’s work is her steadfast commitment to reaching underserved populations in central Ohio,” one of her nominators wrote. “She truly enjoys and embraces any effort to get appropriate information into the community’s hands.”
Creed was selected from nearly 1,300 nominations from library users nationwide for the 2025 award. As part of her award, she will receive a $5,000 cash prize as well as complimentary registration and a travel stipend to attend ALA's LibLearnX event in Phoenix.
The I Love My Librarian Award is sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, with additional support from the New York Public Library, and is administered by the American Library Association. Since 2008, library users have shared more than 24,000 nominations detailing how librarians have gone above and beyond to promote literacy, expand access to technology, and support diversity and inclusion in their communities.