HGSE  Librarian John W. Collins III

John W. Collins III, librarian of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is the recipient of the 2008 Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Education and Behavioral Sciences Section (EBSS) Distinguished Education and Behavioral Sciences Librarian Award. This award honors a distinguished academic librarian who has made an outstanding contribution as an education and/or behavioral sciences librarian through accomplishments and service to the profession. A prize of $1,000 and a plaque, donated by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., will be presented to Collins during the 2008 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Anaheim, California, on June 28.

“Dr. John William Collins III has devoted over 30 years to librarianship and for over 20 years has been an active and contributing member of ACRL and EBSS,” said award committee chair Paula McMillen, social science reference librarian and associate professor at Oregon State University. “He has directly and indirectly influenced the direction of librarianship by co-founding the ACRL–Harvard Leadership Institute. He has mentored and created professional development opportunities, promoted the exploration of issues through editorial boards and his own scholarship, and advocated for a more engaged and inclusive profession.

“Beyond his years of service directly to the profession, he has kept the perspective of libraries and their users vital through key advisory roles in the development of the National Library of Education and the new ERIC database,” said McMillen. “He truly epitomizes a professional lifetime of service and achievement.”

Prior to Harvard, Collins was head of the Educational Resources Library at Boston University from 1982 to 1985 and assistant head of bibliographic services at BU’s Mugar Memorial Library from 1979 to 1982. Collins received his BA in English from the University of Massachusetts in 1974, his MLS from the University of Kentucky in 1975, and his EdD from Boston University in 1985.