‘Rosemary Cooper makes up what is best about our library’

WARWICK — Rosemary Cooper, the director of the Albert Wisner Public Library was named a winner of this year’s “I Love My Librarian Award” at a ceremony held on Nov. 30 at the Carnegie Corporation in New York City.
Cooper was recognized for her leadership in transforming lives and communities through education and lifelong learning. She is one of only 10 librarians in the country this year to receive this national honor. There were 1,125 nominations for librarians working in public, school, college, community college or university libraries.
Action, not just wordsCooper was commended for turning an outdated library into a welcoming and vibrant community center that delivers services and programs that connect closely with patrons’ needs.
To help support the town’s creative community, she established a monthly program featuring local artists’ work in the library’s gallery space.
She developed a special collection focused on mental and emotional health issues and created a safe and nurturing place within the library to help users find reliable and timely resources.
She also led efforts to train library staff to better serve patrons with disabilities.
After Hurricane Sandy, Cooper extended the library’s hours for residents who needed heat, electricity and internet access.
And under Cooper’s watch, the citizens of Warwick approved an $8.5 million bond issue to build a new library in 2007. The new library opened in 2009.
And then in January 2016, the library was named the “Best Small Library in America.
“The Albert Wisner Public Library has become the benchmark for library service in the lower Hudson Valley,” wrote By John N. Berry III in the Library Journal, “and stands as a model of what a small 21st-century library should be: a perfect choice as Library Journal's Best Small Library in America, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.”
$5,000 prizeCooper received a $5,000 prize at the award ceremony and reception. The ceremony was hosted by Carnegie Corporation of New York, which co-sponsors the award along with The New York Public Library and The New York Times. The American Library Association administers the award through its Public Awareness Office, which promotes the value of libraries and librarians.
In the United States there are 190,000 librarians working in libraries of all types, and only 100 librarians have been selected for this distinguished honor since the award’s inception in 2008.
This year’s award recipients include three academic librarians, four public librarians and three school librarians. A complete list of the 2017 I Love My Librarian Award recipients can be found at ilovelibraries.org/ilovemylibrarian. To share information about the winners and the importance of their work in the community please use #ILoveMyLibrarian on social media.