The American Library Association (ALA) is thrilled to announce this year’s 10 recipients of the coveted I Love My Librarian Award. Serving communities across the nation, the 2026 honorees are exceptional librarians from academic, public, and school libraries who were nominated by community members for their expertise, dedication, and profound impact on the people in their communities.
“As ALA marks its 150th commemoration, we recognize the remarkable contributions these 10 librarians make for our communities, for learning, for our health and for the public good,” said ALA President Sam Helmick. “These librarians are people who power possibility in our neighborhoods, our schools, and our places of higher learning. Their leadership, creativity, and innovation strengthen the communities they serve, and we are proud to honor them.”
ALA received more than 1,300 nominations from library users for this year’s award, which demonstrates the breadth of impact of librarians across the country. Nominations focused on librarians’ outstanding service, including expanding access to literacy and library services, outreach within their communities, supporting the needs of the most vulnerable, and more. This year’s award recipients include three academic librarians, four public librarians, and three school librarians.
Honorees will each receive a $5,000 cash prize as well as complimentary registration and a $750 travel stipend to attend the 2026 ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago from June 25-29. The award ceremony and reception will begin at 7:30 p.m. CT on Friday, June 26.
The 2026 honorees are:
Mahasin Ameen
Indiana University, Indianapolis
Mahasin Ameen, teaching and learning librarian at Indiana University Indianapolis, is a trusted guide in navigating today’s complex information landscape. Through expert instruction in research, database use, and source evaluation, she empowers students and faculty to build strong information literacy skills. Beyond campus, Ameen champions equity and access by supporting marginalized communities, integrating social justice into curricula, and leading health literacy initiatives in partnership with the Indianapolis Public Library.
Valerie Byrd Fort
University of South Carolina / South Carolina Community Center for Literacy, Columbia.
Valerie Byrd Fort, a University of South Carolina Teaching Assistant Professor, is a national leader in empowering communities to confront rising book censorship. A cocreator of the Get Ready, Stay Ready Community Action Toolkit , she equips librarians and educators with robust tools to fight censorship and invites parents and community caregivers to get involved. With more than 15 years of experience as a school librarian, Byrd Fort continues to advance literacy statewide through the South Carolina Center for Community Literacy and impactful outreach initiatives.
Jenny Cox
Georgetown Middle School, Georgetown, South Carolina
Jenny Cox has transformed the Georgetown Middle School library into the school’s academic heartbeat. Through innovative, curriculum embedded programming, Cox has increased instructional visits to more than 350 annually and reimagined student engagement. A district leader and advocate, she successfully secured a raise in per student library funding from $17 to $27, as well as spearheaded a $400,000 capital funds initiative resulting in more than 18,000 new books for students countywide. Her leadership and impact have earned multiple honors, including Teacher of the Year, South Carolina Pee Dee Regional School Librarian of the Year, and Outstanding School Library Program of the Year by the South Carolina Association of School Librarians.
Joanne Doucette
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Boston
Joanne Doucette, associate professor and associate director for research services at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, supports the health of our communities through leadership in information literacy and health research. An expert in medical evidence analysis, she mentors graduate students across biomedical fields and has authored more than 80 peer reviewed publications. At the onset of the COVID19 pandemic, Doucette served with the Librarian Reserve Corps, supporting World Health Organization epidemiologists by delivering critical, reliable research to inform global public health decision-making.
Tracy Fitzmaurice
Jackson County Public Library (former), Sylva, North Carolina
Tracy Fitzmaurice has been a transformative leader for rural libraries in Jackson County, North Carolina, championing inclusivity and access for communities with limited resources. As former county librarian and director of the Fontana Regional Library, she launched innovative programs supporting people with disabilities, digital literacy, workforce development, and community connection. Her leadership during Hurricane Helene, award-winning facilities work, and deep community advocacy left a lasting impact across Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties, earning widespread recognition and respect. Fitzmaurice resigned in February 2026 following a turbulent period of local politics and personal attacks.
Mia Gittlen
Milpitas High School, Milpitas, California.
Mia Gittlen, librarian at Milpitas High School, revitalized a shuttered library into a welcoming hub for all students. Since reopening, the space now hosts dynamic programming, community events, and student clubs, inspiring even reluctant readers. A leader in information and media literacy, Gittlen is an Apple Learning Coach, Google Certified Educator, and Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, and since 2019, has served as a Media Literacy Innovator for public media station KQED, which hosts a national Youth Media Challenge that empowers students to create original audio, video, and other media.
Mary Anne Russo
Hubbard Public Library, Hubbard, Ohio
Mary Anne Russo, who recently retired from library service after 42 years, transformed the Children’s Room at Hubbard Public Library from a dark basement into a vibrant, welcoming space that inspires learning and imagination. Through a thoughtful redesign featuring natural light, dedicated program areas, and a sensory garden, Russo created a hub for families and children. Beyond the space, she launched impactful initiatives including school outreach programs, a Toy Lending Library recognized by ALA, an intergenerational reading and activities program coordinated with a local assisted living facility, and a permanent StoryWalk®, leaving a lasting legacy of innovation, access, and community engagement.
Deb Sica
Alameda County Library, Fremont, California
Deb Sica, county librarian of the Alameda County Library, has led transformative efforts grounded in authenticity, equity, and empathy. A longtime advocate for racial equity, LGBTQIA+ rights, and intellectual freedom, Sica launched the library’s Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion team, which evolved into an Equitable Libraries Division and mentorship program supporting underserved communities and staff. Sica has positioned the library as the sponsoring department for the Alameda County Reparations Commission, and she partnered with PAVE Prevention to deliver trauma informed deescalation training systemwide, improving staff safety and influencing library systems across the U.S.
Zachary Stier
Ericson Public Library, Boone, Iowa.
Zachary Stier, director of children’s services at Ericson Public Library, has transformed the library into a community-centered hub for learning and connection. During his 15-year tenure, he has created innovative literacy and STEAM programs, helped forged more than 50 partnerships, and expanded access for learners of all ages. The Little Engines project, which Stier co-created, has driven tens of thousands of additional reading minutes, while his Activating Community Voices program brings experts and residents together to address education, mental health, and civic engagement which strengthened community bonds and reinforced libraries’ vital social role.
Christine Szeluga
Cranford High School, Cranford, New Jersey
Christine Szeluga, librarian at Cranford High School since 2019, has nurtured the school’s library into a dynamic hub for learning and student engagement. She secured grants to create a makerspace, local history archive, and podcast studio, boosting library circulation by 300%. In 2024, she led the Cranford Dixie Giants project, guiding students in researching and sharing the history of Cranford’s early 20th century all Black semiprofessional baseball team through articles and podcasts. The project earned national recognition with the American Association of School Librarians’ Roald Dahl’s Miss Honey Social Justice Award in 2025.
Here are Full Bios For Each Recipient
ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS
Mahasin Ameen – FOR NAVIGATING THE INFORMATION LANDSCAPE
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.”
Joanne Doucette – FOR HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
At the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston, Joanne Doucette is supporting future biomedical scientists and health professionals. As an associate professor and associate director for research services and knowledge management at the college’s library, she teaches students critical information literacy strategies to strengthen their skills in research and literature analysis.
In the library’s information literacy program, Doucette uses her expertise in performing complex analyses to make sense of the trove of empirical studies that form the basis of medical decision-making, and she teaches her students to do the same. Supporting graduate students studying a broad spectrum of topics—from pharmaceutical economics to drug regulatory affairs to clinical research and more—she also provides mentorship to guide student theses, dissertations, and submissions to medical publications. Doucette’s own contributions to scholarly publishing are vast, with more than 80 peer-reviewed citations spanning decades.
In May 2020, just two months after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, Doucette joined the Librarian Reserve Corps, a group of more than 100 volunteers worldwide who partnered with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network to ensure that health and science professionals had access to updated, reliable information. In her work with the corps, Doucette provided research services for WHO epidemiologists seeking articles and reports on COVID-19’s seroprevalence – a measure of how many people in a country, region, or organization have been exposed to the virus by measuring antibodies they may have developed.
“Joanne Doucette exemplifies the spirit of the I Love My Librarian Award,” one of her nominators wrote. “She is knowledgeable, very generous with her time, and deeply dedicated to the success of others. Her impact on our students, our institution, and the broader world is profound, enduring, and worthy of the highest recognition.”
Valerie Byrd Fort – FOR EMPOWERING OUR COMMUNITIES
Book bans are escalating in South Carolina. According to the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, the state had one of highest rates of book censorship in 2024, behind only Florida, Tennessee, and Texas. University of South Carolina teaching assistant professor Valerie Byrd Fort is helping her community push back.
Byrd Fort is one of the creators of the Get Ready, Stay Ready Community Action Toolkit, a nationally recognized resource that provides librarians and educators with robust tools to fight censorship and invites parents and community caregivers to get involved. Building on this toolkit, she helped develop READCON, a curriculum for library readiness, advocacy, and community empowerment that equips library workers with tools and strategies to foster constructive dialogue, de-escalate tense situations, connect with stakeholders and decision makers, and develop positive messaging.
Prior to her role at USC, Byrd Fort served as a school librarian in the state for more than 15 years. Leveraging that experience, she now provides library services at the South Carolina Center for Community Literacy, a children’s library operated by USC’s School of Information Science that examines new books for children and young adults and provides outreach activities to address community literacy issues. For years, Byrd Fort coordinated Cocky’s Reading Express, the USC’s signature outreach program that brings the university’s mascot Cocky to Title I elementary schools across the state to perform storytimes and provide free book giveaways.
“If the library could be personified, it would come to life as Valerie Byrd Fort,” her nominator wrote. “She is the face of librarianship. Her pure love of what libraries and literacy represent, her genuine passion, her smile, her enthusiasm, her desire to reach all students and citizens through the library, is how we all know her, and she does it all in the service of librarianship.”
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PUBLIC LIBRARIANS
Tracy Fitzmaurice – FOR PLACES WHERE EVERYONE BELONGS
In rural Jackson County, North Carolina, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains southwest of Asheville, the libraries play a central role for a community with limited access to transportation and broadband. And until recently, county librarian and Fontana Regional Library director Tracy Fitzmaurice served as a longtime pillar for the libraries.
Fitzmaurice’s focus on inclusivity has made a deep impact among her community, particularly for people with disabilities. She has created custom volunteer opportunities for patrons with autism, hosted film screenings highlighting the meaningful ways people with disabilities enhance a community, and worked to ensure all feel welcome at the library. “Tracy’s kindness and leadership in embracing my son’s disabilities and creating a volunteer job he could proudly do has brought him confidence and joy for several years now,” one nominator wrote.
In February 2026, Fitzmaurice resigned from her roles as county librarian for the Jackson County Library System and director of the Fontana Regional Library following a turbulent period of local politics and personal attacks. However, in her time at Fontana Regional Library, she implemented an array of community-focused programs, including a digital navigators program to support technology skills, cooking classes with a teaching kitchen on wheels, professional development opportunities, and more. And in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in 2024, Fitzmaurice worked with IT staff to ensure the library’s internet was available for anyone on the library’s grounds, providing a lifeline to the community when other communications were down. Under her leadership, the Jackson County Public Libraries in Sylva and Cashiers were awarded Western Carolina University’s 2025 Organizational Mountain Heritage Award, which recognizes the libraries’ commitment to preserving and promoting Southern Appalachian Culture and serving as a repository for regional literature and cultural materials.
“To our community, Tracy Fitzmaurice is far more than just our county librarian and the director of the Fontana Regional Library,” one nominator wrote. “She is an indispensable leader and a powerful advocate to the rural communities of Jackson, Macon, and Swain counties.”
Mary Anne Russo – FOR EXPANDING OUR IMAGINATIONS
The Children’s Room at Hubbard Public Library was once a dark, cement-walled basement. Then Mary Anne Russo got to work.
Working with an architect to reimagine the space, Russo, now retired from her role as children’s librarian after a cumulative 42 years of library service, transformed the Children’s Room into an open, vibrant space with natural lighting, an indoor gazebo, a dedicated space for children’s programming, and, just outside, a sensory garden with plants, waterfalls, and chimes. The space now welcomes families into a lively area that allows their imagination, creativity, and sense of wonder to expand, where literacy and learning thrive, and where “the magic begins.”
Beyond the Children’s Room, Russo has worked to bring an array of engagement activities and programs to the library. Through outreach to local schools, she created an annual program for K-4th grades to visit the Children’s room for programming and to receive a free book. In July 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she created the Toy Lending Library to provide families with access to educational toys and resources for at-home learning, which was recognized with ALA’s Ernest A. DiMattia Jr. Award for Innovation and Service to Community and Profession in 2022. To support intergenerational engagement, Russo implemented “Reading Pals,” a summer program that invites families with children aged five and over to meet weekly at the library to read a new book and share activities with residents from Elmwood, a local assisted living facility for senior citizens. And most recently, Russo championed the creation and implementation of a permanent StoryWalk® at the library to address the community’s “Nature Deficit Disorder.”
“Mary Anne Russo is a leader at Hubbard Public Library, the Hubbard community, and beyond,” wrote one of her nominators. “She inspires many others by her ‘above and beyond’ actions and her passion, vision, and commitment.”
Deb Sica – FOR LIFTING UP OUR COMMUNITIES
Authenticity, Integrity, Creativity, Curiosity, and Empathy—these are the values of the Alameda County Library in California, and they come to life through the work of county librarian Deb Sica. Under her guidance, the library “has become a place where authenticity is welcomed and mistakes are treated as opportunities to learn.”
Sica has shaped her library career fighting for racial equity, LGBTQIA+ rights, and intellectual freedom. At the Alameda County Library, she led the creation of the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) team, a small group that has since blossomed into an Equitable Libraries Division, which targets programs to distinct communities and manages access and outreach services for underserved communities, as well as the JEDI Mentorship Program, which provides tools for career growth and development to staff from historically underserved backgrounds. She has also positioned the library as the sponsoring department for the Alameda County Reparations Commission, which aims to address generations of harm against the county’s Black residents.
In an effort to improve staff safety amidst violent incidents across the county’s library branches, Sica connected with PAVE Prevention, a trauma-informed organization that provides de-escalation training to prevent workplace violence, to bring training to all staff members in the library district over three years. The relationship Sica fostered between the Alameda County Library and PAVE—the organization’s first with a library—has led to the organization working with additional library systems in California, Georgia, and Illinois.
“Deb doesn’t just support the community—she lifts it,” one of her nominators wrote. “She builds relationships, bridges gaps, and makes people feel welcome, valued, and safe to be themselves. She has created a culture grounded in dignity, empathy, and possibility. Her leadership doesn’t just change policies or programs; it changes people.”
Zach Stier – FOR DISCOVERING OPPORTUNITY
At Ericson Public Library in Boone, Iowa, Zachary Stier—or as his many fans call him, Mr. Z—has transformed the library into a launchpad for discovery by connecting literacy with science and creating opportunities for learners of all ages, while doing it all with infectious warmth and humor. During his 15-year tenure, he has created original programs and helped forge more than 50 partnerships that bring Boone’s 12,500 residents the kind of world-class library experience that every child deserves.
Stier was the co-mastermind of the library’s popular Little Engines project, a program that supports early learning by providing access to fun, educational, and interactive family engagement activities using the reading-tracking program Beanstack. Little Engines has resulted in “tens of thousands of additional minutes spent reading,” according to one nominator.
Stier’s passion for education extends beyond the walls of Ericson Public Library. His Activating Community Voices program brings together experts, community leaders, and librarians to tackle everything from STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) learning to loneliness and mental health. Speakers not only share their expertise, they show firsthand how libraries can repair our social fabric. Participants leave with strategies for change, a renewed sense of hope, and a deep appreciation for libraries’ role in learning, community building, and democracy.
“Mr. Z has become a cornerstone of our community, creating a welcoming space where children and parents come together to learn, imagine, and grow,” wrote one of his nominators. “His work fosters not only a love of reading, but also a sense of belonging and connection that strengthens the community as a whole.”
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SCHOOL LIBRARIANS
Mia Gittlen – FOR THE FUTURE OF LEARNING
A forward-thinking information literacy leader; a collaborator; a coach; a visionary; a force to be reckoned with; a creative freight train; and, in the words of one former student, an “11/10 librarian.” Meet Mia Gittlen, librarian at Milpitas High School in Milpitas, California.
Prior to Gittlen’s arrival at MHS, the library had been shuttered for years, with no way to borrow books or use its resources. Within months of her onboarding, she had revitalized the space, transforming it into a welcoming hub that invites and encourages even the most reluctant readers to stop in. The library is now host to frequent events, from reading BINGO to scavenger hunts to blood drives, and serves as a regular meeting space for several of the school’s clubs.
When it comes to technology, Gittlen wears many hats – an Apple Learning Coach, Google Certified Educator, and Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, to name a few. She’s also making a larger impact to the field of school librarianship, with service in the California School Library Association, American Association of School Librarians, and as a Common Sense Ambassador. Since 2019, Gittlen has served as a Media Literacy Innovator for KQED, which hosts a national Youth Media Challenge that empowers students to create original audio, video, and other media that are showcased online. And in her community, she organizes an array of community gatherings, including literacy summer camps, a summer book club for school librarians, and monthly “Active Educators” fitness meetups.
“Mia Gittlen is not just an outstanding librarian; she is a vibrant, innovative, and empathetic mentor who actively transforms the practice of those around her,” one of her nominators wrote. “Her vision, passion, and infectious laugh show her deep, pure love for the library profession. She goes above and beyond to care for her community of students and colleagues, making her a truly deserving recipient of the I Love My Librarian Award.”
Jenny Cox – FOR IGNITING CURIOUSITY
When media specialist Jenny Cox arrived at Georgetown Middle School eight years ago, she saw an opportunity to reimagine the library as a more dynamic and student-centered space. Today, it’s the academic heartbeat of the school.
Thanks to Cox’s efforts, classroom library usage has ballooned to more than 350 instructional class visits each year. She collaborates with teachers across the school to embed library services and literacy skills directly into classroom instruction. Her robust programming has also transformed student engagement within the library: crime scene writing events; custom-designed escape rooms; Amazing Race-inspired academic challenges; Jeopardy! tournaments for curriculum content review; publishing poetry in a blacklight Glowetry Gallery—the list goes on.
Cox also serves as one of the lead librarians for Georgetown County School District. Recognizing that library funding had remained stagnant for more than 15 years while book costs continued to rise, she advocated for increased district library funding, ultimately contributing to raising per-student allocations from $17 to $27. Additionally, she spearheaded a $400,000 capital funds initiative that placed more than 18,000 new books to be placed into the hands of students across the county, and she has authored district-wide library policies covering collection development, weeding, and budget accountability. Her efforts have earned her recognition as Teacher of the Year twice, South Carolina Pee Dee Regional School Librarian of the Year in 2022, and most recently, Outstanding School Library Program of the Year by the South Carolina Association of School Librarians.
“I love my librarian because she does not simply manage a library,” one of her nominators wrote. “She changes lives, reshapes systems, strengthens our district, and builds futures through literacy, access, mentorship, and advocacy. If there is a librarian in this nation who embodies the true spirit of the I Love My Librarian Award, it is Jenny Cox.”
Christine Szeluga – FOR THE HEART OF OUR SCHOOLS
Between overseeing the school’s newspaper and literary magazine and advising student council and podcast club, Christine Szeluga stays busy supporting the 1,200 students at Cranford High School in New Jersey. And under her leadership as the school’s librarian, the library has flourished as a dynamic hub for academic support and student engagement.
Since joining Cranford High School in 2019, Szeluga has transformed learning and engagement in the library, securing grant funding to support the addition of a makerspace, local history archive, and podcast studio—spaces that encourage students to explore new technologies, engage in creative projects, and develop digital skills. Her efforts to modernize the library have also increased circulation rates in the library by 300%.
In 2024, Szeluga spearheaded the Cranford Dixie Giants project, a local history initiative where students researched Cranford’s semi-professional, all-Black baseball team that played in the early 20th century. What began as a simple research project bloomed into a community-wide effort to honor the team and uncover its hidden history. Guided by Szeluga, students wrote articles and produced podcasts for the school’s news platform, raising awareness of the team’s historic legacy and laying the groundwork for a larger commemoration honoring their resilience and talent in the face of racial discrimination. The project was recognized nationally with the Roald Dahl’s Miss Honey Social Justice Award from the American Association of School Librarians in 2025.
“The library is the heart of our school community,” one of her nominators wrote, “and Mrs. Szeluga is at the center. As a leader in the school, she inspires students through her love of learning, and her infectious enthusiasm for reading often helps to see themselves as lifelong readers.”
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