ILF Awards & Honors

Each fall, the Indiana library community recognizes ILF personal, institutional, and trustee members (as well as others), who contributed to the excellence of Indiana libraries. Has one of your staff or volunteers excelled in the last year or throughout their career? Perhaps you have an outstanding community partner organization? Nominate a person, library, or organization deserving of recognition due to their outstanding commitment to library excellence.

Specific award and scholarship information can be viewed below:

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

Librarians
Federation Leadership Award
Lifetime Achievement Award
Outstanding Librarian Award
Outstanding New Librarian Award
Outstanding School Librarian Award
Outstanding New School Librarian Award
Peggy L. Pfeiffer AISLE Service Award

Library Staff (Non‑MLS/MLIS)
Outstanding Library Staff

Library Support
Federation Volunteer Award
Sena Kautz (Media Center Service) Merit Award

INSTITUTIONAL AWARDS

Libraries
Esther V. Burrin School Media Project Award

Library Outreach
Outstanding Library Award
Programming Award
Sara Laughlin Marketing Award

Special Situations
Collaboration Award
Partnership Award

INDIVIDUAL & INSTITUTIONAL AWARDS

Library Support
Everyone Counts Award
Hoosier Intellectual Freedom Award
Library Advocacy Award
Outstanding Trustee/Supporter Award
Library Champion Award
Read Aloud Champion Award

Special Situations
Tom Zupancic Literacy in Libraries Award

2025 Award & Scholarship Recipients

Ben Moore (Southwest Allen Co. Schools - Summit MS) - Peggy L Pfeiffer Award
Diane Rogers (Wayne Township - Ben Davis 9th Grade Center) - Federation Leadership Award
Joe Goepfrich (St. Joe Public Library) - Outstanding Library Staff
Donald Chase Brasher, Baylee Bunce, Haylee Lau, Brandon Raymer, Julie Sims - Esther Schlundt Memorial Scholarship
Michele L. Stolz - Sue Marsh Weller Scholarship

Please review the 2026 criteria carefully, as the committee will not follow up on incomplete applications.

Nomination Guidelines

  • Nominees (except where noted) must be members of the Indiana Library Federation for the year in which they are nominated.
  • Nominators are solely responsible to ensure that all paperwork and letters of recommendation are turned in before the deadline.
  • A complete nomination packet includes: the online nomination form, additional documentation per the criteria.
  • Priority will be given to nominations that follow the format suggested in the criteria and/or following sample format for individual or institutional nominees.

Timeline

Nominations are open through June 30th.

Nomination Form

Access Nomination Form

Submission Process

The nominator is solely responsible for gathering all items to be included in the nomination packet. There are two options for submission:

Once the online nomination form has been completed, please send the additional documents per the criteria in one of two ways:

  • Electronically (preferred) to Marissa Beck in the following format: Title, "2026 Award Nomination Packet" in PDF format.
  • Hard mail to:
Indiana Library Federation
Attn: Marissa Beck
6510 Telecom Drive Suite 200
Indianapolis, IN 46278

Confirmation will be sent once a completed packet has been received.

*Please note that you will have to have an established account or create one to access the nomination form. You are not required to have or purchase any kind of membership after creating your account. If you have any questions, please reach out to the ILF office.*