2014 VLA Award Winners

VLA Friends of the Library Award

The Friends of the Village Library branch of the Massanutten Regional Library is a nonprofit, volunteer organization with approximately 30 members. The organization began in 1974when a group of interested citizens began the work of creating a branch library to serve Northern Rockingham County. This group later became the Friends group. While the group’s makeup has changed over the years, the one constant has been the dedication of its members. The original branch was located in the Broadway Municipal Building and was staffed entirely by volunteers. IN 1991, the Village Library moved to its own building thanks primarily to the work of the Friends group. In February 2013, the newest Village Library opened on Central Street becoming more than twice the size of the last building. The Friends group kicked off the fundraising campaign for the expansion and move with a $50,000donation. In addition the group helped purchase furnishings and other extras for the building. The group had been working towards this goal for years. They pooled donations, bequests, book sales monies and other efforts in anticipation of the new location becoming a reality. The Friends group has over the years; regardless of the location strived to make it an inviting place. 40 years later friends’ members still volunteer countless hours, held book sales, yard sales, and worked tirelessly to make the Village Branch Library a favorite community gathering place. Friends’ members have not only helped in life, but have left bequests which enabled the library to move to its current location. Two of the current members are from the original group of volunteers. That is dedication! One would be hard-pressed to find a library friends group more dedicated over such a long period of time than this group of wonderful and generous people who make up the Friends of Village Library.

George Mason Award – Phil Abraham

For more than 20 years Philip F. Abraham has led the Virginia Library Association’s legislative efforts. Phil works annually with the VLA legislative committee to develop the Association’s legislative agenda. He assists the committee in designing strategies to get state legislators to support the agenda. He is VLA’s eyes and ears for behind-the-scenes developments and regularly alerts and advises the committee when any legislation possibly affecting libraries arises during the General Assembly session. His many years of experience with, and in, Virginia government and his integrity have earned the respect and trust of the legislators. It is through his efforts, advice and suggestions that the library community is able to educate state legislators about the importance of state aid to public libraries and the importance of libraries to their communities. Phil’s efforts, during the recent recession, helped public libraries avoid more drastic funding cuts suffered by other groups, and resulted in the first increase in funding in five years during the 2013/2014 fiscal year.His numerous contributions include advocating for major library issues including defense of library collections against censorship, to deeply impactful local issues such as the qualifications of librarians and the organization and definition of public library systems. The community of Virginia librarians is fortunate to have the dedicated and passionate commitmentof Mr. Abraham. The George Mason Award is a fitting and richly deserved recognition for all that he has helped us accomplish together.

Trustee Award

Doug Horan was appointed to the Rockbridge Regional Library Board of Trustees in 2011 to serve an unexpired term. He was elected Chairman of the Library Board in 2012. He serves on the Executive, Finance, and Policy committees. Mr. Horan was appointed by the County Board of Supervisors due to his expertise in Human Resources and organizational development. His twenty plus years of experience provided a much needed skill set to the Board of Trusteeswhich was challenged with unique community relations, personnel and organizationproblems in the library system. During his short-tenure Mr. Horan has been able to re-establish trust with the two city councils and two county boards of supervisors which appropriate finds to Rockbridge Regional Library. He has spent countless hours speaking with members of the library staff, community, city and county officials while working to solve problems. One of his earliest accomplishments was settling long standing issues with neighboring property owners which results in the reopening of the library parking lot. Mr. Horan worked with the Board of Trustees to assess and solve significant personnel problems that caused the library’s reputation to suffer in the community. Mr. Horan’s roll in the hiring of the new library director was integral. Additionally, he continues to work with the new Library Director to repair damaged community and government relations. As he has worked to restore community trust, donations, essential toa nonprofit library, have increased substantially. In July 2013, Mr. Horan was presented with a resolution honoring his service to the Board of Trustees for his outstanding leadership. The Rockbridge Regional Library System is fortunate to have the professional expertise and demeanor of Doug Horan. He has worked tirelessly to ensure the best possible outcome for the library system during some of the worst possible circumstances. Through all the challenges and subsequent changes, he remained professional, open-minded to change and flexible in his approach to working with others. In addition to his volunteer work with the Library, he worked on the Rockbridge County Sign Committee in signage issues and helped the Growth Planning Committee develop recommendations and presentation for the for the community and Board of supervisors with regard to controlling development. He spent five years mentoring and tutoring elementary school children via the library’s youth literacy program and spent a year serving as a “Roving Reader “to preschool children at Enderly Heights School.

Honorary Life

Dr. John Moorman served as director of the Williamsburg Regional Library (WRL) for 13 years before retiring in 2013; however, his work with libraries goes back to his childhood when at the age of 11 he volunteered to shelve books in his local library. His professional work began in 1972, but he has served as library director in libraries in North Carolina, Texas, Illinois, and Virginia since 1975. During his tenure at WRL, Dr. Moorman was responsible for the library receiving a five-star rating by Library Journal and being awarded three and four-star ratings. In total the WRL received the award 6 times. He was also responsible for developing new staff programs, enlarging holdings and increasing services to a wide variety of community members. He was also instrumental in mending community relations and fostering new contract relationships with the City of Williamsburg, James City County and York County, which laid the groundwork for the new Stryker Center. This space added needed administrative and high-tech meeting rooms to existing library space. Dr. Moorman has been active with the Virginia Library Association for many years, and was VLA President in 2010, in addition to serving on the Legislative Committee. In addition, Dr. Moorman was active in the Public Library Association and served in various capacities for the American Library Association including on the Council and the Executive Board. Dr. Moorman has also taught graduate classes, thus helping to educate and lay the ground work for librarians hoping to enter the field.  He is also a consultant who has worked with public libraries since 1982. Dr. Moorman’s work is not limited to only libraries. He has also volunteered in the Williamsburg community for many years. His accomplishments include serving as the treasurer of the James City County Rotary Club and serving on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the Greater Williamsburg Chamber and Tourism Alliance. The Virginia Library Association is proud to award Dr. John Moorman the Honorary Life Member Award.