Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award

Apply for the Hugh Atkinson Memorial Award

This award has been paused temporarily. We hope to resume awarding it in 2026.

This award honors the life and accomplishments of Hugh C. Atkinson by soliciting nominations and recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of an academic librarian who has worked in the areas of library automation or library management and has made contributions (including risk taking) toward the improvement of library services or to library development or research.

Winners receive a cash award and a plaque. This award is funded by an endowment created by divisional, individual, and vendor contributions given in memory of Hugh C. Atkinson. The award is jointly sponsored by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and Core: Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures.

The nominee must be a librarian or a group of librarians employed in one of the following during the year prior to application for this award:

• University, college, or community college library;
• Non-profit consortium, or a consortium comprised of non-profits that provides resources/services/support to academic libraries.

The nominee must have a minimum of five years of professional experience in an academic library or in a non-profit consortium or a consortium comprised of non-profits. The nominee must be a member of ALA and at least one of the award's sponsoring divisions (ACRL and Core) at the time of submission. For group nominations, all nominees must meet the eligibility and criteria requirements.

Applications are kept in the award pool for two years. Applications may be updated each year, as long as they are received by the award deadline.

Visit ACRL's Atkinson Award page for complete information on submission procedures, deadlines, and contact information. Visit Core's Atkinson Award Committee page for the committee roster.