SirsiDynix Building Better Communities Awards

WOW! I can’t wait to hand these out! The final winners are a big secret. Less than a month til we know! (shhhh)
Today, we announced the 15 finalists for the SirsiDynix Building Better Communities Awards. This year, we will award six US$10,000 prizes to library organizations that use technology to help improve their communities.
The finalists, in alphabetical order, are:
Alliance Library System, East Peoria, Ill.
British Official Publications Collaborative Reader Information Service (BOPCRIS) Project, University of Southampton Library, United Kingdom
Carl Shepard Library/Illinois College of Optometry, Chicago
Holmesglen Institute of TAFE Information Commons, Victoria, Australia
Jacksonville (Fla.) Public Library
Kankakee (Ill.) Public Library
Lincoln Trail Libraries System, Champaign, Ill.
North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, N.C.
Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, Charlotte, N.C.
Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC), U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Alexandria, Va.
Shanghai (China) Library
Smithsonian Institution Research Information System (SIRIS), Washington, D.C.
SUNLINK: Florida Department of Education, Tallahassee, Fla.
World Health Organization Library, Geneva, Switzerland
Yarra Plenty Regional Library, Melbourne, Australia
As you can see, it was a big year for Illinois (four finalists) and Florida (two). This is also the first year for international libraries to be eligible. They made a very strong showing, with one-third of the finalists coming from the international customer base (three from APAC and two from EMEA). There is also a nice mix of publics, specials, academics and K-12 of various sizes. Three finalists from last year – North Carolina State, Charlotte & Mecklenburg County and the Scientific and Technical Information Center – repeated again this year, which is impressive considering the committee is completely different this year. Previous recipients of the $10,000 prize, however, are not eligible again.
A press release has been issued, and the awards Web page updated. You can read more about the finalists here: http://www.sirsidynix.com/Company/bbc_awards_recipients_2007.php
The press release is here: http://www.sirsidynix.com/Newsevents/Releases/2007/20070529_BBCFinalists.pdf
The 2007 recipients will be announced at ALA Annual in Washington, D.C. For those attending the conference, the ceremony is Sunday, June 24, at 10:30 a.m. in the SirsiDynix booth (No. 3747).
Stephen