Congratulations to the 2025 BCLA Award Winners!

June 20, 2025

In late April, the British Columbia Library Association (BCLA) awards were presented during the 2025 BC Library Conference.

Each year, BCLA presents overarching awards for outstanding work in libraries and  awards with a specific topic focus:

• BCLA Building Better Communities Award
• BCLA Eureka Award
• BC Academic Libraries Section Outstanding Contribution Award
• BCCATS J. McRee Elrod Leadership Award
• Young Adult and Children’s Services Section Award

BCLA Building Better Communities Award

2025 Recipient: Richmond Island Public Library

This award is for an individual or organization responsible for increasing the relevancy and impact of library service through partnership, collaboration, and building trust where little had previously existed. This year’s recipient is Richmond Public Library for their Resource Navigation Partnership Initiatives, working with the City and collaborating across multiple sectors and with individuals with lived or living experience of poverty to reduce and prevent poverty in their community.

The library and city received UBCM funding to develop 3 key programs: Community Service Pop Ups; Community Services Connectors; and ‘Snacks and Facts’ Workshops, facilitated by local community organizations with support from the Connectors, focused on topics relevant to residents with lower incomes.

The Awards Committee took particular note of the community-led approach to this work and the creation of meaningful work for people with lived or living experience of poverty, and by the level of collaboration and partnership – Richmond worked with 40 different community service organizations through these initiatives. They felt this was a model that other libraries could draw on as they strive to support people experiencing poverty in their own communities, and look forward to seeing how it evolves as it moves from a grant funded project to a part of library operations.

BCLA Eureka Award

2025 Recipient: Tsitsáyxemaat Rebecca Duncan

This award is given to an individual or organization that has created an innovative approach to address a barrier, solve a problem, provide a powerful new insight, or introduce an original idea in the library field. This is an award for thinkers, analysers, innovators, dreamers, and doers. This year’s recipient is Tsitsáyxemaat for her partnership with the West Vancouver Memorial Library to create Skwxwú7mesh Sníchim Language Kits and make them available through the library collection.

The kits are popular and are increasing the impact of library service on students and educators, Indigenous and non-Indigenous people alike.

The Awards Committee was impressed by the interactive and audio components of the kits, and by the way that this collaboration enables the library to support the preservation of Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) culture and language, acting on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action.

BC Academic Libraries Section Outstanding Contribution Award

2025 Recipient: Debra Flewelling

This award recognizes to an individual who works in an academic library (or team of academic library personnel) whose professional achievements have made a real difference to students, faculty, or colleagues in British Columbia. This year’s recipient is Debra Flewelling for her championing of student affordability and open education practices across the province, and her leadership in the adoption of Open Education Resources.

J. McRee Elrod Leadership Award

2025 Recipient: Kathleen Peters

This award recognizes an individual or unit working in technical services that has demonstrated excellence and/or made a difference to users and colleagues in British Columbia in the area of technical services. This year’s recipient is Kathleen Peters for her contributions as a leader in the Technical Services Department at Douglas College; as an active member of the BCCATS community; and as an instructor at Langara college teaching cataloguing for many years.

Young Adult and Children’s Services Section Award

2025 Recipient: Chris Miller

This award recognizes librarians, library technicians, teacher-librarians and others who have, as individuals or teams, demonstrated exceptional dedication and service in children’s or teen library services. This year’s recipient is Chris Miller, for his long-term and tangible impact on multiple generations and many hundreds of children and teenage patrons’ lives at Coquitlam Public Library.

(Via British Columbia Library Association)