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CHICAGO — The Library Instruction Round Table (LIRT) of the °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±app has chosen Samantha Peter, Chair of Research & Instruction and Instructional Design Librarian at the University of Wyoming Libraries, as the 2024 recipient of the LIRT Librarian Recognition Award. The award was created to recognize an individual’s contribution to the development, advancement and support of information literacy and instruction.

Peter received her Master of Science in Information Sciences from the University of Texas at Austin in 2018. Shortly after graduation, she began working at the University of Wyoming Libraries as the Instructional Design Librarian. In 2022, she took on a greater leadership role within the libraries, serving as Chair of Research & Instruction. In that position, she is responsible for supervising six library faculty and managing information literacy at the university. Throughout her career, Peter has been an advocate for universal design for learning, employing its tenets in her instruction and educating other librarians on how to incorporate universal design in their teaching.

Peter has numerous presentations and publications centering on instruction focusing on inclusive pedagogy, digital literacy badging, and open educational resources. Most notable is Peter’s research on universal design for learning for library instruction classes. In addition to her scholarship in this area, she has taught several Library Juice Academy’s Inclusive Instructional Design Course which has allowed her to share best practices and principles of accessibility and universal design with others in the profession.

Peter has been active in service to the profession, focusing her work in this area on her passion for making libraries more accessible to our patrons and colleagues. She has served as an editor for the Journal of Open Educational Resources in Higher Education and a member of the Society of American Archivists Task Force on Revising the Best Practices of Accessibility. The awards committee was most impressed by her dedication—as evidenced by her work experience, research, and service—to creating more open, inclusive, and accessible spaces for all library patrons.

In response to learning of the award, Peter said, "Receiving the LIRT Librarian Recognition Award is an incredible honor, and I am thrilled to join the ranks of past recipients. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has been a core pedagogy through my work supporting students, faculty, and staff. UDL helps me understand that everyone processes information differently and it can be so simple to make little changes that allow for everyone to learn on equal levels. I am thankful to be surrounded by a supportive team at the University of Wyoming who have always encouraged my ideas and work together to advance information literacy and instruction for all students in the state of Wyoming.”

The Library Instruction Round Table was started in 1977 with the intent to bring together librarians who provide library instruction across all types of libraries–academic, public, school, and special. 2024 marks the 11th year the Librarian Recognition Award has been awarded. Samantha Peter will be presented with a $1,000 cash prize and a plaque commemorating the award. She will be honored during a ceremony at the Annual Conference in San Diego, tentatively scheduled for Sunday, June 30, at 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Visit LIRT's webpage to find out more about LIRT, its mission, and the awards.

The LIRT Librarian Recognition Awards Subcommittee included Bridget Farrell of the University of Denver (chair), Alex Mitchell of Texas A&M University, Brian Richardson of University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, and Monica Latham of Colorado State University.

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