The Library Leadership Board has named Beth Holley and Wayne Rau as its 2011 Faculty and Staff Award recipients.

“The Library Leadership Board Awards were created to recognize, on an annual basis, a library faculty member for truly outstanding professional contributions to University Libraries or to the field of librarianship,” Donna Adcock, of UA Libraries, said. “And to recognize the exceptional library staff member whose competence, attitude and helpfulness advances the mission of University Libraries.”

The awards have been given annually since 2000, Adcock said. Beth Holley, head of Acquisitions for Gorgas Libraries, received the Faculty Award, and Wayne Rau, digital media specialist for Stanford Media Center, was named as Staff Award recipient.

Holley oversees the Acquisitions Department and is responsible for acquiring print and electronic media for Gorgas Library.

“Our responsibilities include ordering, claiming, receiving and paying for all materials added to the libraries’ collections,” Holley said.

“Criteria for the Faculty Award [include] service to libraries, the University, and communities; continuing professional contribution and growth; and skill in academic librarianship,” Adcock said.

Holley began working in Acquisition in 1987 when much of the work was still done manually.

“In 1987, when I was hired, Acquisitions was still a manual operation,” she said. “Orders were submitted on paper forms and paper records maintained. In 1992, some Acquisitions functions were automated for the first time.”

According to a recent UA press release, Holley has played a major role in helping her department work more efficiently with the new and improved technologies of the 21st century.

“Over the years, integrated library systems and vendors worked together on developing ways to exchange order and payment information electronically,” she said. “The majority of our orders and payments are electronically transmitted. As vendors compete with other vendors to improve their online systems to attract more customers, Acquisitions is learning to take advantage of their enhancements to meet the needs of faculty and students.”

Rau, recipient of the staff award, has been with UA libraries for nearly a decade as a digital media specialist. He was one of the early developers of the Sanford Media Center and continues to provide seminars, media distribution and tutoring to students, according to the UA press release.

“The criteria for Staff Awards [include] service to libraries, continuing growth, and skill in job performance,” Adcock said.

For Holley, the award is a nice recognition for a sometimes-overlooked department.

“I am very pleased and honored to receive the Library Leadership Faculty Award. I have been at the University for almost 25 years and a librarian for 33,” Holley said. “The work that my department does often seems clerical and mundane, but without Acquisitions there would be no books, journals, or databases for faculty and students to use.”