Jennifer Hain Teper is the recipient of the 2020 Paul Banks and Carolyn Harris Preservation Award. This award is given annually by the Preservation and Reformatting Section (PARS) of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS). Sponsored by Preservation Technologies, L.P., the award consists of $1,500 and a citation. Hain Teper’s admirable leadership, service and dedication to the preservation profession embodies the qualities of the Banks Harris Award.

Jennifer Hain Teper of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign has committed her career to library preservation and conservation on a local, state and national level. She has made notable contributions to the field through her research on scrapbooks, mold remediation and collection surveys. She has mentored numerous emerging professionals at all stages of their career, both in the classroom and the library. She has shown leadership across multiple divisions of the American Library Association (ALA). For two decades, Hain Teper has studied, taught and advocated to advance library preservation across every facet of the preservation field.

As one of her nominators noted, “Jennifer sets a remarkable example as someone who continually advances the exchange of knowledge in preservation and conservation through her research and publications. She is a prolific author and editor of numerous book chapters, articles, conference proceedings, newsletter columns and more. Her contributions are significant and diverse, spanning a broad range of preservation and conservation topics that include the care and treatment of scrapbooks, collection assessments, care and preservation of materials in remote storage, preservation during mass digitization projects, and consortial collection management and preservation. Jennifer’s work often fills a significant gap in the literature as academic libraries have undergone dramatic changes in how they steward and provide access to collections, such as mass digitization and moving collections to remote storage. Jennifer has responded with practical and timely publications, often sharing findings from her own institution and providing, essentially, models or paths for other institutions to use.”

The Banks-Harris Preservation Award honors the memories of Paul Banks and Carolyn Harris, early leaders in library preservation and teachers and mentors for many in the field of preservation. The award will be presented on Saturday, June 27 during the ALCTS Awards Ceremony at the 2020 American Library Association’s Annual Conference & Exhibition in Chicago, IL.

The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) is the national association for information providers who work in collections and technical services, such as acquisitions, cataloging, collection development, preservation and continuing resources in digital and print formats. ALCTS is a division of the American Library Association.

News release courtesy of the American Library Association