Last week, Library Journal announced their list of Movers and Shakers 2011: the People Shaping the Future of Libraries, and we were very pleased that NMRT Past-President Courtney Young was honored as a Change Agent. In addition to her recent promotion to Head Librarian at the Greater Allegheny Campus of Penn State University, the article summarizes, “Young serves as an academic advisor to Penn State students, coordinates an honors program, works to improve university-wide virtual reference services, and evaluates and tracks diversity of the library’s acquisitions. She also serves on the American Library Association’s (ALA) Executive Board and is [past-president] of ALA’s New Members Round Table.”
Courtney has been moving & shaking and change-agent-ing in NMRT for nearly ten years. For the past three years, 2008-2011, Courtney has served as NMRT Vice President/President/Past-President. 2005-2008 she served as NMRT Counselor, and continued on ALA Council after that as a member-at-large. She chaired the Student Chapter of the Year Award committee in 2004-2005, chaired the Diversity Committee in 2003-2004, was a member of the Diversity Committee in 2002-2003, and was a member of the Liaison Coordination and Support Ad Hoc Committee in 2002-2003.
Courtney’s contribution to the New Members Round Table, and to the American Library Association, is inestimable. We benefit so much from her confidence, courage, and unfailing competence. As she completes her term as NMRT Past-President at ALA Annual in New Orleans, she has already gone on to bigger and better things, and she is a shining example of the possibilities of Association and Round Table involvement. I hate to lose Courtney from the NMRT Executive Board, but I’m glad to share her with the rest of ALA. I know that the work Courtney has done, is doing, and will do, will continue to impact NMRT in the future, and she’ll always be one of us. Once an NMRT or JMRT member, always an NMRT member.
Congratulations, Courtney! I can’t think of anyone more deserving. The profession is tremendously lucky to have you.