First published in the Sept. 25 print issue of the Glendale News Press.
The 2021 Unique Library Awards are honoring libraries for their exceptional community impact by recognizing 18 winners in the West Region, including the Glendale Library, Arts and Culture Department.
Unique Management Services, a leading library material recovery and patron communication services company, created three awards to celebrate high-impact libraries for providing vital services, protecting public assets and keeping patrons in good standing, the company said in a statement.
GLAC was awarded the Librarian at Your Service Award, which honors “libraries and librarians who have provided exceptional service to their patrons including smart utilization of Unique’s Gentle Nudge material recovery, MessageBee, UniqueChat, Curbside Communication and call services.” The system represented small libraries in this award, with the Sacramento Public Library sharing the award for large systems. GLAC was among 18 winners from West Region libraries, which includes Arizona, California, New Mexico, Nevada and Washington.
Together, these 18 regional winners from across the U.S. recovered a combined $2.6 million in overdue materials and brought more than 19,000 patrons back into good standing, all while providing outstanding service to their patrons and communities, Unique said. The company honored 72 total libraries in this year’s awards across four geographic regions in three award areas.
Winners were chosen by Unique’s team who partner with more than 1,350 libraries across the country to effectively recover materials while preserving patron goodwill. Libraries were categorized by size, region and volume to determine the top-performing partners who made the biggest impacts on their communities.
“All libraries deserve recognition for their unprecedented response this past year to provide vital services to their patrons and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Unique President and CEO Nicole Atkins. “Unique developed this award program as a small way to say thank you, celebrating libraries and librarians for their constant dedication and meaningful impacts.”
A full list of winners is available at uniquelibrary.com/awards.
