CHICAGO — K.C Boyd, school librarian and member of the District of Columbia Public Schools Library Corps (DCPS), is the recipient of the 2021 American Library Association’s Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) Distinguished Librarian Award. The Distinguished Librarian Award recognizes significant accomplishments in library services that are national or international in scope and include improving, spreading, and promoting multicultural librarianship.
K.C Boyd is a leader and respected voice in the field of librarianship. Boyd is a staunch advocate for school librarians and has worked to ensure that schools within the District of Columbia’s 7th and 8th Wards retained library positions and programming. “These wards, primarily African-American and Hispanic-American, have experienced severe budgetary reductions in staffing/programming,” said nominator Richard Ashby, immediate past president of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Boyd also spearheaded the “I Love My Library Media Specialist” poster and essay contest and speaks nationally on race and equity in school libraries. According to Ashby, “K.C. Boyd is an exceptional candidate for EMIERT’s Distinguished Librarian Award for numerous reasons. She has demonstrated selfless voluntary service, leadership, and advocacy in the field of library information science for 23 years.”
“Boyd is currently serving the greater library community through her leadership in a number of organizations. She currently serves on the executive boards for the District of Columbia Library Association and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. She is a chapter council member for the American Library Association representing Washington D.C. Boyd serves on the committees for the American Association of School Librarians Digital Tools, American Library Association’s Center for the Future of Libraries Advisory Group, EveryLibrary Institute and Advisory Board, and the Washington Teachers’ Union Equity Collaborative. In addition, Boyd is a National Ambassador representing the Washington D.C. area for the Virtual Classroom and News Literacy Project.”
As the recipient of the 2021 Distinguished Librarian Award, Boyd will receive a commemorative plaque and a $500 honorarium to be presented during the EMIERT Chair’s Program, “The Future of Children’s Literature: A Discussion About Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going, and What it Will Take to Get There.” This program will be held virtually during ALA’s 2021 Annual Conference.
For more information, visit www.ala.org/emiert. Founded in 1982, the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) serves as a source of information for recommended ethnic and multilingual collections, services, and programs.
Originally published at https://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2021/04/kc-boyd-receives-2021-emiert-distinguished-librarian-award
