Award for Excellence
The 2026 Award for Excellence goes to the Accessibility Standing Group of the Orbis Cascade Alliance, recognized for their Accessibility Speaker Series. The Award for Excellence recognizes individuals or groups who achieve excellence in the field by significantly improving Oregon academic libraries or librarianship.
This robust series addressed a range of library work and sources, helping library workers develop practical skills and theoretical expertise to address a wide variety of accessibility needs and support compliance with new regulations. Sessions were recorded and made freely available on the Orbis Cascade Alliance website to further the access and impact of the project.
Led by Orbis Cascade Program Manager, Diversity & User Experience, and Consortial Training Coordinator Amy Coughenour, the group included:
- Lainie Allen, Western Oregon University
- Talea Anderson, Washington State University
- Stephanie Brown, Pacific University
- Elizabeth Cheney, University of Puget Sound
- Celia Hagey, University of Idaho
- Rebecca Hastings, University of Idaho
- Charlotte Hull, Eastern Oregon University
- Amber Mak, University of Washington
- Mary Wegmann, Western Washington University
Recipients will receive an engraved plaque, recognition at the 2026 ACRL-OR or 2027 OLA Conference, and a stipend of up to $150 to defray conference registration costs.
Scholarships
ACRL-OR is pleased to recognize three scholarship recipients this year.
Sara DeWaay ($500)
Instruction Librarian, Clackamas Community College Library
Sara will attend the American Library Association Annual Conference in June, focusing on Spanish language resources and services — work the committee found meaningfully connected to her practice and to the broader library community.
Kathryn Melvin ($600)
Library Technician, Western Oregon University
Kathryn will attend the 2026 Oregon Library Association/Pacific Northwest Library Association Joint Annual Conference, focusing on professional development around rebranding and promotion of a Library of Things service.
Alysia Castro ($400)
Circulation Assistant, Clackamas Community College
Alysia plans to enroll in AI-related and cataloging-related courses — timely and valuable work the committee found meaningfully connected to her role and to library work overall.
