Indianapolis, IN
The landscape of information is vast, and navigating it in search of useful or trustworthy sources can be daunting or overwhelming, like exploring a dense forest. However, with a skilled guide, the trails reveal themselves.
For students at Indiana University Indianapolis, teaching and learning librarian Mahasin Ameen is that skilled guide. As one student puts it, “Working with Mahasin Ameen has felt like traveling with someone who not only knows the landscape, but also points out the markers that I would have overlooked. Her expertise…has given me a compass of sorts, allowing me to distinguish between trails that look promising but dead-end in questionable sources, versus those that lead to reliable, peer-reviewed scholarship.” In her role, Ameen empowers students and faculty to navigate and leverage academic databases, identify information resources, and evaluate and assess information quality, and by doing so, she is transforming information literacy into a core component of the university’s learning communities.
Beyond her work in information literacy support, Ameen is known in and beyond her university community for advocating for students from historically marginalized populations and serving underrepresented communities across Indianapolis. As a liaison to several schools within the university, she has worked with faculty to incorporate discussions of race and social justice into curricula, such as the effect of systemic racism on eHealth resources. And working with the Indianapolis Public Library through an “All of Us” grant from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Ameen helped provide health literacy programs and emergency care kits at all Indianapolis Public Library locations.
“Mahasin Ameen’s work exemplifies the heart of librarianship: meeting people where they are and helping them achieve their goals,” one of her nominators wrote. “Whether supporting university students as they navigate complex research challenges or helping community members build digital literacy skills, she creates welcoming, empowering spaces that celebrate learning and inclusion.”
Ameen was selected from more than 1,300 nominations from library users nationwide for the 2026 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 Annual Conference in Chicago.
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 25,000 nominations detailing how librarians have gone above and beyond to promote literacy, expand access to technology, and support diversity and inclusion in their communities.
