Nominate a librarian you love for the 2026 I Love My Librarian Award – they could win $5,000 and the recognition of a lifetime! Nominations close December 15, 2025!
Nominees must meet certain requirements to be considered for the award. Check out the award’s eligibility criteria.
Check out our tips for telling your librarian’s story and making your nomination stand out from the rest.
Can I submit a nomination by mail? Will you share my nomination with my nominee? Find out in our FAQ.
Subscribe to the I Love My Librarian Award email list for updates about the nomination process and winners.
Each librarian nominee must:
Each year, we receive hundreds of nominations for the I Love My Librarian Award, but only 10 librarians can be selected per award cycle. Wondering how to write a nomination that stands out from all the others? Read on below for tips about how to make the best possible case for your favorite librarian.
The strongest nominations provide specific, compelling evidence to illustrate why a particular librarian deserves the award. For example, rather than just stating that the nominee is welcoming, you could share an anecdote about how they went out of their way to make a community member feel comfortable using the library, or cite a policy they enacted to make the library’s services and programming more inclusive.
It can also help to include library statistics if you have them available—if your nominee helped to increase circulation, program attendance, or library visits, sharing those numbers can be a great way to show the concrete impact of the librarian’s work.
We receive so many wonderful nominations each year, so our selection committee looks for librarians that exceed expectations and truly represent the best of the profession. As you write your nomination, keep in mind that a typical job description for a librarian includes recommending books, organizing programs, and answering reference questions—how can you communicate that your librarian goes above and beyond those duties?
Many successful nominations include input and quotes from several members of the librarian’s community. Including multiple nominators is by no means required, but pooling multiple points-of-view could be a good way to show how wide your nominee’s impact is. If you’re nominating a school or college/university librarian, consider incorporating perspectives from students, instructors, and administrators; for a public librarian, it might be helpful to hear from library users, fellow library staff, local officials, and partner organizations.
If you choose to collaborate with others to nominate a librarian, we strongly recommend working together on a single nomination rather than having several people submit individually.
So many incredible nominations are submitted every year, but only 10 librarians can be honored in a given award cycle. If your librarian isn’t selected the first time you nominate them, try resubmitting your nomination in subsequent years—you can add additional details when you resubmit or just send it as-is. Many of our award recipients have been nominated multiple times before receiving the award, so don’t lose hope if it doesn’t work out the first time around!
If you have specific questions about the I Love My Librarian Award nomination process, or would like a copy of a nomination you previously submitted, please email campaign@ala.org
All nominations for the I Love My Librarian Award must be submitted online via the online nomination form. If you have trouble using the form, please contact campaign@ala.org so we can help troubleshoot.
Nope! You can make your nomination as long as it needs to be. The more details, stories, testimonials, and examples you can include that show off why your librarian is outstanding will help make your nomination stronger. Check out the section above on what makes a strong nomination.
Yes, all nominees receive a copy of their nomination. In the form, you can select whether or not to include your name. If you’d like to remain fully anonymous, we advise not including your name or any identifying information within the body of your nomination, as they are not edited before sending to the nominees.
While nominations may come in from around the world, nominees for the award must be employed in a library within the United States to be considered.
Yes, librarians in American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are eligible to receive the I Love My Librarian Award.
Yes, librarians that work in detention or carceral facilities are eligible to receive the award. Librarians working in adult detention facilities may be nominated in the Public Librarian category, while librarians working in youth detention facilities may be nominated in the School Librarian category.
For the 2025 I Love My Librarian Award, all nominations must be submitted using the regular submission form, including nominations that were submitted in prior years. If you previously nominated a librarian for the award and would like a copy of your past submission, please contact campaign@ala.org and we may be able to send you a copy.
We know the feeling! Yes, you are welcome to submit nominations for as many librarians as you’d like. Please submit a separate nomination for each librarian you’d like to nominate for the award.
Yes! We encourage you to nominate your librarian regardless of whether or not you know if they’re eligible for the award. ALA staff work behind the scenes to confirm each nominee’s eligibility, so you don’t have to.
All librarians who are nominated receive copies of their award nominations, so they’ll still get to see all of the wonderful things you have to say about them and why they’re so beloved in their community.
Email us at campaign@ala.org and if you have a question about the award not answered above.
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