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Bette L. Siegel (right in photo, with Sandy Peterson) is one of the Bernadine Abbott Hoduski Founders Award winners in 1999. She is currently the Documents Librarian at the State Library of Massachusetts. The award recognizes documents librarians who have made significant contributions to the field of state, international, local, or Federal documents. The award recognizes those whose contributions have benefited not only the individual's institution but also the profession.

Bette has been selected for this award in recognition of her guidance, leadership and advocacy of the Massachusetts state documents depository program. During her tenure as documents librarian, the number of state publications available to libraries and their users has nearly doubled since 1992. She has systematically visited state agencies to education employees about and encourage their participation in the state depository program. When depository librarians have difficulty locating a publication or communicating with a state agency, Bette is very effective in finding the appropriate resource or contact within an agency.

One of her nominators noted that Bette singlehandedly prepares the quarterly and annual indexes and cumulations of state documents acquired for the State Library and the state depository system. Through her efforts in compiling and distributing the Checklist of Massachusetts State Documents the documents librarians have been given a valuable acquisitions and bibliographic control tool for their Massachusetts state publications collections. She has made it possible for nondepository libraries to build Massachusetts state publications collections by processing all documents for preservation microfilming.

Bette has been an active proponent of both the Federal and state documents programs by articulating her concerns and becoming involved in state and regional government documents organizations such as the Boston Library Consortium Government Documents Interest Group and the Government Publications Librarians of New England. Recently she has been involved in a program through the Boston Library Consortium to visit the local offices of the Massachusetts congressional delegation to educate them about Federal and state depositories, their collections and services . She has served as vice-chair and chair of the Government Publications Librarians of New England as well as serving on several committees.

While the State Library's primary users are legislators and other state employees, Bette's contact with users extends well beyond to include public, academic and research communities. She regularly communicates with other depository librarians on state documents issues; and she assists librarians from across the state and region in obtaining government information. Bette's leadership and tenaciously hard work have made the Massachusetts state documents depository system the effective and responsive program that it is today.