Since 2014, the BCCATS Technical Services Award has recognized individuals or work teams demonstrating levels of excellence that have made a palpable difference to users and colleagues in British Columbia in the area of Technical Services. In the fall of 2016, the award was rededicated to honour J. McRee (Mac) Elrod (1932-2016), a founder of BCCATS, drawing inspiration from Mac’s lifelong dedication to patron-centred values, social justice, and intellectual freedom. This new iteration preserves the focus of previous awards but reframes it in the context of: a) integrating our work more seamlessly with traditional point-of-contact public services; b) making collections management and resource discovery more responsive, transparent, and directly visible; and c) advocacy for unfiltered, unbiased patron access to information by improving the discovery and fulfillment of library resources.
Nomination criteria will include at least some of the following:
- Demonstrated impact on users, the library and/or colleagues across B.C.
- Demonstrated collaboration with colleagues or other institutions
- Commitment to intellectual freedom principles, beyond ideology or partisanship
- Worthy of inspiring similar efforts within the profession
- Must have worked in B.C. within the past year
Examples of activities having an impact on Technical Services in BC might include:
- Mentoring
- Teaching workshops, seminars, etc. for library workers, especially those expanding their portfolio or transitioning into technical services
- Initiating new “best practices”: developing and/or implementing new and/or improved formats, methods, techniques, equipment and routines demonstrating creativity and innovation
- Leveraging Technical Services for Indigenous and other underserved populations
- Active involvement in professional organizations
- Contributions to publication and/or research
- Implementation of innovative projects, programs, or services
- Exemplary record or lifelong impact on extending Technical Services for libraries
How to nominate a candidate for the BCCATS J. McRee Elrod Leadership Award:
Nominees or their institutions should be BCLA members.
Please email nominations in confidence Tamarack Hockin at [email protected] for consideration of awards committee. You email should include:
– Nominators name/email
– Name of individual or department nominated
– Detailed rationale of why this distinction should be awarded
– Supporting material (optional) e.g. annual report or new article etc.
The 2022/23 BCCATS J. McRee Elrod Leadership Award Committee:
Sheri Ostapovich (Legislative Library of British Columbia)
Ryan Vernon (Langara College)
Trevor Smith (Douglas College)
Please email the BCCATS Chair, Tamarack Hockin at [email protected] if you have any questions regarding the BCCATS J. McRee Elrod Leadership Award.
BCCATS Awards Committee Terms of Reference.
Previous Recipients of the BCCATS J. McRee Elrod Leadership Award (known as the BCCATS Technical Services Award, 2014-2016):
2014: Nancy Stuart, University of Victoria
2015: Linda Woodcock, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
2016: Penny Swanson, Simon Fraser University
2017: no award given
2018: Susan Andrews, University of British Columbia
2019: Sarah Ogden, Vancouver Island University
2020: Rachel Rogers, Greater Victoria Public Library
2021: no award given
2022: no award given
2023: Richard J. Violette, GVPL/Special Libraries Cataloguing