The University Library is one of five libraries nationwide that has received the John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award—which “recognizes and honors outstanding achievement in library public relations.”
Considered the most prestigious of all library awards in the field of public relations, they are presented annually by the American Library Association (ALA).
The award citation honors:
“The University of California Santa Cruz Library for its hugely successful campaign surrounding its acquisition of the Grateful Dead archives.
In addition to coverage in many national newspapers and magazines from the Wall Street Journal to Rolling Stone, the library’s Facebook page for this archive has more than 48,000 friends--second only to the Grateful Dead’s own Web page--and they have received $1.5 million in donations.”
University Librarian Ginny Steel noted that “the John Cotton Dana awards recognize excellence in library public relations, and the competition for the awards is stiff.”
“We have been successful in making this collection more visible than it had been prior to its arrival at UCSC, and we have also generated a huge amount of support for it, as evidenced by the more than 48,000 people who have signed on as Friends of the Grateful Dead Archive on Facebook,” Steel added.
“This was a very difficult judging year,” observed Kim Terry, chair of the ALA Awards Committee. “The quality was outstanding.”
