The American Library Association (ALA) has announced the 10 recipients of the 2025 I Love My Librarian Award. Serving communities across the nation, the award winners include four academic librarians, three public librarians, and three school librarians who were nominated by community members for their expertise, dedication, and impact on the people in their communities.
The 2025 honorees are:
Abby Armour
Mukwonago (Wisc.) Community Library
Under library director Abby Armour’s leadership, Mukwonago Community Library has undertaken an effort to repatriate items in its Grutzmacher Collection—a collection of about 12,400 Native American items gifted to the library in 1965 by artifact collector Arthur Grutzmacher—to Native American Tribes that have claimed them. Armour worked for years to catalog the collection and guide the library through compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), and she has led her library to become the first public library in Wisconsin, and only third in the U.S., to repatriate Belongings under NAGPRA. Learn more about Abby Armour.
Charlotte Chung
Suncrest Elementary School in Morgantown, West Virginia
Library media specialist Charlotte Chung engages reluctant readers and supports English-language learners at Suncrest Elementary School. Chung’s Building Bridges to Literacy project, funded by a $50,000 grant from the West Virginia Public Education Collaborative, aims to develop a library collection and resources specifically geared toward students’ needs and interests to increase their reading motivation, including materials in multiple languages to support the 53 native languages spoken in classrooms throughout the school district. Learn more about Charlotte Chung.
Missy Creed
The Ohio State University in Columbus
At The Ohio State University’s Library for Health Information, consumer health librarian Missy Creed works in and outside of the library’s walls to get reliable health information into the community. Each year, Creed participates in dozens of outreach events and health fairs, reaching more than 1,000 individuals to provide trustworthy and easily digestible health information covering a broad spectrum of topics, while also providing free and confidential reference services to patients and the general public. Learn more about Missy Creed.
Jessica Gleason
Wailuku (Hawaii) Public Library
In the aftermath of the wildfires that devastated Lāhainā and western Maui, Wailuku Public Library bookmobile librarian Jessica Gleason became a steadying presence for a displaced and healing community. Less than a month after the fires that left the western part of the island without a library, she established services for the affected area, working with shopping centers, hotels, schools, churches, and the local government for the bookmobile to provide books, Wi-Fi, programming, and essentials such as meals and clothing to families in need. Learn more about Jessica Gleason.
Peggy Griffith
The Ferris School in Wilmington, Delaware
Administrative librarian Peggy Griffith creates opportunities for youth at the Ferris School, a secure treatment facility under the Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families that provides services for court committed males ages 13 to 18. Griffith has modernized the school’s library by replacing more than 1,000 damaged or outdated materials and integrating the library’s collection into the state’s library catalog. She also helps youth transition back into the community with personalized letters of encouragement, resources for résumé assistance and connecting with a social worker, and their own Delaware public library card. Learn more about Peggy Griffith.
Candice Hardy
Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama
Once a student, Candice Hardy now directs the Learning Resources Center at Miles College, a Historically Black College where she guides students to become engaged and empowered citizens through a variety of programming and events. From a campus-wide voter activation day leading up to the 2024 U.S. general election, to hosting an inaugural exhibition of works by local Black artists in a new exhibit space, to offering movie screenings and author events, Hardy has reinvigorated the library into a hub for campus life. Learn more about Candice Hardy.
Analine Johnson
Johnson High School 9th Grade Campus in Laredo, Texas
For two and a half decades, Analine Johnson has supported at-risk readers in the United Independent School District in Laredo, where she serves as library media specialist at Lyndon B. Johnson High School’s 9th Grade Campus. Johnson has helped raise thousands of dollars to help students from low-income backgrounds purchase books, created a new literacy program to support emerging bilingual students who struggle with learning the English language, and spearheaded the installation of a “Lil Library Box” in the park across from her campus. Learn more about Analine Johnson. Learn more about Analine Johnson.
Theresa Quiner
Kuskokwim Consortium Library in Bethel, Alaska
In Bethel, Alaska—a city disconnected from the road system and only accessible via plane or boat—Kuskokwim Consortium Library director Theresa Quiner helps her community thrive. Beyond the many librarian hats she wears—from director to collection development and cataloging to reference services—Quiner has put in great effort to serve the needs of the rural community and its most vulnerable members, including outreach to shelters and food banks, partnering with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to increase children’s access to books, and programs that teach camp cooking, canning, and other necessary skills. Learn more about Theresa Quiner.
Jamar O. Rahming
Wilmington (Del.) Institute Free Library
In just six years, Wilmington Institute Free Library has gone through a transformational rebirth thanks to the efforts of its executive director Jamar Rahming. From establishing partnerships with local barbers to stock bookshelves for children inside barbershops, to hosting “Pitch or Ditch” competitions for minority-owned small businesses, to housing a diaper bank and community closet on its second floor and more, the library under Rahming’s leadership has revitalized the community and has attracted a growing and diverse slate of prolific voices and cultural icons to speak at library programs, including LeVar Burton, Jenifer Lewis, and Dolly Parton. Learn more about Jamar O. Rahming.
Nelson Santana
Bronx (N.Y.) Community College
At the Bronx Community College library, associate professor and collection development librarian Nelson Santana explores and raises awareness of the social and cultural history of Dominican, Caribbean, and Latin American communities while working to build a collection reflective of the student body. Fueled by an interest in the role of libraries and archives in communities of color and how they impact student lives, he has engaged his campus community through a range of grant-funded programming and initiatives, including curating an exhibit showcasing transnational Dominican activism. Learn more about Nelson Santana.
About the award
ALA received nearly 1,300 nominations from library users for the 2025 award. Nominations focused on librarians’ outstanding service, including expanding access to literacy and library services, outreach within their communities and supporting the needs of the most vulnerable. Honorees will each receive a $5,000 cash prize as well as complimentary registration and a $750 travel stipend to attend ALA’s LibLearnX event in Phoenix.
The award ceremony will take place during the LibLearnX welcome reception at 6 p.m. ET, Friday, January 24, 2025, and will stream live on YouTube. Tune in if you can't join us in person!
Since the award’s inception in 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. Information regarding previous award recipients can be found on the I Love My Librarian website.
Subscribe to the I Love Libraries newsletter! You'll get monthly updates on library news, advocacy updates, book interviews, book info, and more!
