Library Technician of the Year 2011 - Judith Allan

One of the roles of the ALIA National Library Technicians Group is to administer the process and manage the selection of the Library Technician of the Year Award.

As Convenor of the Group it gives me great pleasure to announce that the recipient of the award for 2011 is Judith Allan from Western Australia. This year, following consultation with the nominees who made that submission on Judy's behalf, we deviated from the norm and refrained from publicising the award on ALIA e-lists until after the presentation at the Perth Conference.

Since graduating from Edith Cowan University with a Bachelor of Science (Library Technology) in 2000, Judy has worked consistently to raise the profile of library technicians and encourage others in their professional development. She has been employed as a Library Technician by Legal Aid WA since 2002 and has acted as a mentor to new technicians embarking on careers in law libraries.

Judy was the ALIA West Australian Library Technicians Group (WALT) Convenor from 2005 to 2009 and recently returned to role to release other committee members to devote their time to the organisation of the Perth conference. She is a passionate Library Technician who works tirelessly to promote the profession, with strong leadership, planning and organisational skills.

She is responsible for organising a number of excellent professional development workshops and seminars and providing many networking opportunities for students. These include student mentoring, student evenings, National Library Technicians Day breakfast, Library visits, and regular committee meetings.

Judy also contributed to the report which led to the recent submission to Parliament on the important role of library staff in schools and she is currently supporting a campaign seeking recognition of LT skills and qualifications in the WA Public Sector and having these reflected in salary scales.

She has actively participated at national and online conferences and her hard work, commitment and leadership has been of great benefit to many library professionals and students in WA.

Please join me in congratulating a very worthy recipient of the Library Technician of the Year award for 2011!

The perpetual sponsor of the award is the School of Computer and Security Science at Edith Cowan University - and the ALIA National Library Technicians Group wishes to acknowledge and express heartfelt thanks for their ongoing support.