Auburn High School librarian Beth Cuddy has been named School Librarian of the Year.
The New York Library Association awarded the honor on Saturday, November 5, at its annual conference in Saratoga Springs.
Cuddy was nominated by colleagues from the South Central Regional Library Council and Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES for her leadership and professionalism, both in her handling of a challenged library book and through her work with Project Look Sharp, which seeks to help K-16 educators enhance students’ critical thinking, metacognition and civic engagement.
“When the book All Boys Aren’t Blue was formally challenged this year, Beth didn’t just participate in the review committee,” Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES School Library Systems Coordinator Penny Sweeney wrote in a letter to the committee, “She took an active role in providing resources, educating the committee on our values of access, democracy, diversity, intellectual freedom, professionalism, and social responsibility.”
The School Librarian of the Year award is given to a school librarian who has made a significant contribution by demonstrating the value of school libraries, enhancing the image of school librarians and/or school libraries, promoting an accessible and positive climate in the library, advancing community relations, or initiating a new library service or program.
Cuddy began her career with the Auburn Enlarged City School District at Seward Elementary School in January 2008. She assumed the role of high school librarian in September 2021.
“I thoroughly enjoy teaching media literacy skills, teaching students that there are many reasons people create media and how they can be critical consumers of information,” Cuddy said.
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