SUNYLA Call for Nominations – SUNYLA Excellence in Scholarship Award

The SUNYLA Professional Development Committee is seeking nominations for the 2026 Excellence in Scholarship Award.

Scholarship eligible for this award was published, presented, handed in, or otherwise fixed in a sharable forum during the 2025 calendar year.

The nominated work may be a
❖ Published paper
❖ Conference paper or recorded presentation
❖ Student work submitted for a grade and/or academic credit
❖ Work fixed in a sharable medium (e.g. code uploaded to an open access repository)

To be eligible for the Excellence in Scholarship award:
● One of the creators must be a SUNYLA member (student members welcome)
● The nominated work must have been published, presented, or made available
in a fixed sharable medium during the 2025 calendar year to be eligible for the
award presented at the 2026 Annual Conference

To nominate a work of scholarship, please complete the nomination form

Award includes a certificate and cash prize
Nominations and self-nominations are welcome through May 11th

Questions can be submitted to Rebecca Hewitt, Chair

The 2026 EiS Award Committee members:

Kabel Nathan Stanwicks, University at Albany (Past Winner)
Christine Fena, Stony Brook (past winner)
Erin Rowley, Buffalo (past winner)
Hilary Wong, Cortland
Meghan Lenahan, Binghamton
Rebecca Hewitt, SUNY Polytechnic, Chair

Previous Recipients:

2025 SUNYLA Excellence in Scholarship Award:

Jennifer K. Embree, Binghamton University

For Co-Authoring the Council on Library and Information Resources Report:

Embree, J. K. (2024, September). The Story of the Modern Seed Library: A Historical Analysis of Seed Saving, Its Evolution Through the Ages, and Its Current Impact on Community, Culture, and Connection. Council on Library and Information Resources. https://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/story-of-the-modern-seed-library

Kabel Nathan Stanwicks, University at Albany

For Co-Authoring the Article:

Stanwicks, K. N., & Iyer, H. (2024). Music Social Tagging and RDA Name Authorities: Can User-Generated Tags and Professional Metadata Live in Harmony?. Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 62(5), 461-490. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639374.2024.2360494

2024 SUNYLA Excellence in Scholarship Award:

Erin Rowley, University at Buffalo

For Editing and Authoring Chapters of the Volume:

Leachman, C., Rowley, E. M., Phillips, M., & Daniela, S. (2023). Teaching and Collecting Technical Standards : A Handbook for Librarians and Educators. (First edition.). Purdue University Press. https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/94227

Christina Fena, Stoney Brook University

For the Book Chapter:

Schierhorst, G., & Fena, C. (2023). “Being able to play for a wider audience”: Student musician perspectives on performing in the library. In Library Faculty Publications. 50.
https://commons.library.stonybrook.edu/library_articles/50

2023 SUNYLA Excellence in Scholarship Award:

Laurel Schienfeld, Stoney Brook University

For the Article:

Opara, I., Pierre, K., Assan, M. A., Scheinfeld, L., Alves, C., Cross, K., Lizarraga, A., & Brawner, B. (2022). A Systematic Review on Sexual Health and Drug Use Prevention Interventions for Black Girls. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(6), 3176. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063176.

Carli Spina, Fashion Institute of Technology

For the Book Chapter:

Spina, C. (2022). Design Inclusive Spaces with Accessibility and Universal Design. FIT Institutional Repository. https://institutionalrepository.fitnyc.edu/item/8927.