Awards Summary

Every year, SLA-NY honors outstanding members of our community. The awards celebrate members at every stage of their careers, from the Rising Star Award showcasing those just starting out to the Dana Gordon Special Librarian of the Year Award honoring those who continually impact our association and the industry.

Please help us by nominating colleagues and/or organizations for the following four awards:
Check out each page for more information.
2022 Award Winners
Please join us in congratulating the 2022 award winners:

Dana Gordon Librarian of the Year Award: Eileen Rourke

SLA
Eileen Rourke has been an active member of SLA throughout her career. She joined SLA as a Student Member, while earning her MLIS at Columbia University. Currently, she contributes to SLA-NY as Membership Engagement Chair and also co-hosts the Managers Roundtable, which has now expanded to global participation. Eileen has served on SLA Boards in several capacities, including SLA-NY Professional Development Chair, DCSLA President (‘95-’96) and SLA Board Finance Committee.

Career
Eileen’s career, based in NYC and Washington DC, has primarily been in Special Libraries, though she also   worked for DC Public Library and Peace Corps, where she was responsible for training & technical support to global Information Resource Centers. Because of her strong interest in international librarianship, Eileen also volunteered in Bosnia for the National & University Library of Sarajevo and is a supporter of Lubuto Library Partners.

Eileen developed a specialty in business librarianship from her work experience on Wall Street and financial service Fortune 500 companies including D&B and Fannie Mae, where she created a Corporate Information Center.

Eileen is currently Research Consultant at Partners in Human Resources International, an HR Consulting firm, where she was on staff for 10 years as Business Intelligence Specialist. Eileen uses her knowledge of HR issues to support SLA members with their careers.

Personal 
A native New Yorker, Eileen is also a licensed NYC Tour Guide.


Rising Star Award: Patty Sumire McGowan

Patty Sumire McGowan settled in NYC this summer and works as the faculty Cataloger and Metadata Librarian at Borough of Manhattan Community College. She previously worked in federal libraries in DC at the Department of Defense, State Department, and Law Library of Congress. She is on the board of SLA's DMV Community, co-chair of APALA's Family Literacy Focus Committee, and actively involved with SLA's DICE and NY Communities and CUNY's Cataloging and ERM Committees. Patty and her partner live in LIC and will welcome their first child later this year.


Spotlight Award: Lenape Center
Lenape Center
SLA-NY would like to recognize the Lenape Center's leadership in sharing the historic and continued erasure of Lenapehoking, as well as its work with NYC-area museums and public libraries to foster a better understanding of Lenape culture and the land on which such institutions are located.

The SLA-NY Awards Committee would also like to thank the Lenape Center for continuing to work with us to lead a workshop for our own members, as well as allowing us to share with our sister communities also residing in Lenapehoking.

Lenape Center has the mission of continuing Lenapehoking, the Lenape homeland through community, culture, and the arts.

Since 2009, Lenape Center based in Manhattan and led by Lenape elders has created programs, exhibitions, workshops, performances, symposia, land acknowledgment, and ceremonies to continue our Lenape presence. We push back against our erasure and seed the ground with Lenape consciousness for the next generations. Lenape Center is working towards the creation of a physical culture center.

Diaspora
The Lenape Center proudly acknowledges that the Lenape diaspora includes five federally recognized nations in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario. Lenape Center does not speak for these nations and recognizes they have active thriving tribal governments that speak for themselves.

Please learn more about the Lenape Center here.