Purpose
To recognize public library staff, individual or teams, who have made an outstanding contribution to advance the mission of a public library in Kentucky through an innovative project, program, or service.
Criteria:
● Innovation is defined as creating something new or introducing new methods with great results. Innovation will be considered very broadly and is not limited to technology or public relations campaigns.
● The nomination can be made for a single activity or a compilation of activities that have led to a positive change in the overall measurable public perception, access, or use of the library.
● The nominated institution’s activity (or activities) must not have been previously recognized by the KPLA for an award.
● Nominee should be able to demonstrate:
○ Leading-edge ideas that can be modelled or scaled for other libraries’ use
○ An innovation that is original, distinct, or applied in new ways
○ Significant benefits to employees, library patrons, library operations, or the community at-large
○ Measurable and comparable data to show the impact
Rules:
● Nominations may be made by anyone employed in a library.
● Nominations should be concise and address the above criteria, including no more than two pages of narrative and up to three pages of supportive material (newspaper articles, photos, etc.).
● The information and the quality of the application shall be the sole basis of selection. Any application not meeting the above criteria will be disqualified.
● The KPLA Awards Committee will make the selection based on the above criteria.
● The KPLA Awards Committee may choose to make no award in any given year if the quality of the nominations is not determined to be satisfactory.