CHARLEMONT — It’s not every librarian that makes house calls — especially not up a hilly dirt road in winter, where Stephen Ferguson was laid up for four months after major back surgery.
But Andrea Bernard of the Tyler Memorial Library made the drive “in all kinds of weather,” Ferguson said, in a letter to nominate Bernard for the American Librarian Association’s “I Love My Librarian” 2016 Award.
“Andrea Bernard brought me an endless supply of books, driving her personal vehicle after library hours. Because Andrea takes a personal interest in all of her patrons, she knew just what books to bring me,” said Ferguson.
Last week (Nov. 30), Bernard became one of 10 librarians in the nation to earn this national honor “for her exceptional contributions to the community and ongoing commitment to transforming lives through education and lifelong learning,” according to the American Library Association.
Bernard received a $5,000 prize at an award ceremony and reception held Nov. 30 in New York City, hosted by Carnegie Corp. of New York, which co-sponsors the award along with The New York Public Library and The New York Times.
Since becoming the Tyler Memorial Library director in 2013, Bernard has been praised for modernizing the library, by purchasing computers that library users without internet access can use to locate government services, apply for jobs, take online classes and participate in social media.
Bernard established Tyler Tech, a summer program to provide local schoolchildren with the chance to participate in science, technology, engineering, arts and math activities. She also started programming for adults, including workshops on healthy eating and wellness, singing groups, ukulele lessons and flower arranging classes.
Ferguson said Bernard “has taken our library into the 21st century, while retaining its small town charm.”
Under Bernard’s guidance, according to Ferguson, “the library has become a vibrant center, not just for learning but also for social interaction.”
“I really want Charlemont and Hawley to have a lot of credit!” Bernard said of her award. “Since I’ve been there, the town has voted to increase funding so that we can have more open hours, new public access computers, join C/W MARS, get high-speed fiber optic Internet access, increased funding for library resources, and more. I couldn’t have done any of these things without the support of residents and patrons from Charlemont and Hawley or their respective selectboards,” she said.
This is Bernard’s first job as a library director. Before this, she had been a former child development specialist for 25 years before going back to college to learn library science. Bernard graduated with honors from the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science in 2010.
As part of the “I Love My Librarian” award process, the public is invited to nominate their favorite librarians working in public, school, college, community college and university libraries. This year about 1,100 nominations were submitted by library users detailing how librarians connected them to information, opportunities and critical technology to help improve the quality of their lives.
The award, given to 10 librarians a year, was started in 2008. In the past eight years, library supporters nationwide sent in more than 15,000 nominations for their librarians.