2024 Award Recipients
Distinguished Service to Libraries – Trish Hull (Salt Lake County)
Trish Hull graduated from BYU in 1977 with a degree in Political Science. She graduated from Emporia State University with an MLS in 2002. Worked for Salt Lake County Library 1994-2024 starting her career as a sub shelver and finishing as a Library Manager from 2006-2024. She worked as a manager at Magna, West Valley, and Kearns branches. Trish served in many positions in the Utah Library Association including ULA President in 2013 and ALA Councilor 2022-2024. In 2012, Trish was named the ULA Librarian of the Year. She has also served as a Member of Chamberwest Chamber of Commerce, serving as Chair of Women in Business 2021-2023. In 2022 she was named the Chamberwest Volunteer of the Year. In 2017, Trish was elected to the Magna City Council where she still serves. She has served since 2016 as the Chair of Magna United Communities that Care Coalition. Trish was also a member of the Utah Health Literacy Coalition from its beginning until 2023.
The only other info I would like to add is that serving in ULA has been the joy and honor of my professional life. I have met so many amazing colleagues and learned from so many fabulous library workers throughout the state.
I have believed my entire career that our responsibility as librarians is to serve our communities in every aspect of their lives. This includes health, education, entertainment, information and creating a place for community in all its varieties.
This is an unexpected but very much appreciated honor from the committee.
Librarian of the Year – Judi Poorte (North Logan City Library)
I struggled with reading when I was young and it was frustrating to keep up when I couldn’t read very well. So it gives me great joy to now be a children’s librarian. My career as a librarian started 20 years ago when I first met Sue Randlemen. She was our library director at the time and led many of our storytimes. She made storytime fun and exciting since she was a skilled ventriloquist. I had the amazing opportunity to shadow Miss Sue and her puppet, Quakers. The children loved listening to Quackers read to them. In this way, Sue taught me how to keep the children engaged at storytime. As I further shadowed her, I realized that moving forward I wanted to help children learn to love reading. I’m now committed to cultivating and nurturing an environment for children to thrive. I love reading a story in a room full of young children who are so engaged in the story, that you can hear a pin drop. I get emotional when this happens, because it helps me see that I am making a difference in their life by reading to them and sharing my love for books with them
As a children’s librarian, I am committed to promoting literacy by paying close attention to those who may be struggling to read. I believe that every child can read, they just need to find the right book. I enjoy working with each child and parent individually to find that special book for them. When I am searching for books in the collection, I am looking for books to suit all ages and reading levels. I love choosing books that will spark interest and curiosity to hold the child’s attention, especially for those who are struggling to read.
Over the years, I have had the opportunity to be the interim director of our library twice. It has been a great learning experience that has stretched me, making me into a better leader. I enjoyed working closely with our city officials, where I presented the budget to them and sought their guidance in supporting the library in the best way possible for the community. I have learned what it takes to run a library. It has helped me to have a better understanding of all the hard work that it takes to be a library director. I admire all the library directors that I have been able to learn from at the ULA Conferences and State Library trainings. It has made me have a better appreciation for what they do.
During this time, I have enjoyed attending Uplift trainings where I received my certification in libraries. I have enjoyed continuing my education by attending numerous training sessions at library conferences over my years as a librarian.
Our Summer Reading Program has become one of my greatest joys as a children’s librarian. I get to witness so many young children getting excited about reading. These experiences have fostered my love for my job and the community I am surrounded by. Thank you for this great honor to receive the Librarian of the Year Award!
Outstanding Staff Award - Lori Bonner (American Fork Library)
Twenty years ago, I started working part time at the American Fork Library, not realizing that I had just been blessed with something truly magical. It’s been twenty years of imagining, creating, playing, working, going back to the drawing board and happy (generally) exhaustion. I’ve enjoyed some successes and experienced some epic fails (consult with me before attempting a balloon chandelier). I’ve found bosom friends. I’ve amassed an enviable puppet collection. Best of all, I’ve played a small but good part in the lives of many others, and they in mine. Pure joy!
Legislative Award for Excellence in Political Affairs and Library Advocacy - Alfred Mowdood (University of Utah)
Alfred Mowdood, M.L.S. is a Librarian at the University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library. He serves as a library liaison to students, staff, and faculty in engineering, science, and health. For over 25 years, he has worked with first-year learning communities that support minority, underrepresented, and first-generation students interested in the health professions. He is also the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC) Representative in Salt Lake City at the University of Utah. Alfred has served as mentor/judge with the statewide Bench to Bedside (B2B) early stage commercialization program for over 10 years. Providing service to ULA has greatly enriched his work and made him a better librarian. He is the parent of identical twins and married to Anna Neatrour.
Outreach Award – Erika Hill (Provo City Library)
Erika Hill is the Community Relations Manager at the Provo City Library. She holds a master’s degree in Media Education and a bachelor’s degree in Media Arts, both from BYU. She manages marketing, outreach, the Basement Creative Lab, and the Attic exhibition space. In practice, this means she does a fair amount of math, answers a lot of questions, and writes an absurd amount of emails. When not at the library she reads, crochets, embroiders, plays video games, raises children, and sometimes sleeps.
Honestly, receiving this award feels a little bit like taking all the credit for a group project! Our partnership with the Boys and Girls Club to provide free lunches after our story times is perhaps the best example of what a partnership can be: pooling our strengths and resources to improve lives in our community.
I am so grateful for the Boys and Girls Club of Utah County who said yes when I suggested they distribute food at Stories in the Park in addition to the library. I am grateful for all the library staff members who make Stories in the Park possible. It’s a program that requires work from the Children’s, Circulation, and Outreach Departments, and in the end, we’ve managed to all come together to create a program that meets our community members where they are and provides food for their bodies and their minds. It’s such a successful program, and I’m just so happy to see the ways that it keeps growing.
Special Service to Libraries – Mitzi Nelson (Wasatch County Library)
I grew up in the Sugar House area of Salt Lake City. From a very young age, I wanted to teach. As a 3rd grader, I held summer school on our front porch for the kids nearby. Mom provided the treats. I love being read to and reading on my own. My first library experience was as a 2 year old walking down the outside stairs to the Children’s Section of the Sprague Library Branch. I continued to use the Sprague Library throughout my school years and even while earning my Elementary Ed degree from the U of U.
My opportunities to be able to teach children and to serve on the Wasatch County Library Board have been a precious part of my life for so many years. I am excited to still be an active participant in looking to the future of our library as we strive to make it a cherished community gathering space where all patrons feel welcome and safe. A space with new learning opportunities, new friends to meet and new joy to find in the wonderful world of books.
Many years ago, I introduced my 2 year old daughter to library story time. Most recently my daughter and I took my first grandchild, just about a year old, to story time at the Sprague Library Branch.
“Life is Good”
President’s Award - Rebekah Cumming (University of Utah)
Rebekah Cummings is the Interim Director of Digital Matters at the University of Utah Marriott Library where she coordinates digital humanities research, teaching, and support. In 2018 – 2019, Rebekah served as the Utah Library Association President, and she currently serves as the Utah State Library Board Chair. Since 2019, Rebekah has championed library issues and funding as Co-Chair of the Utah Library Association Advocacy Committee. In this role, she and her advocacy partners have won multiple awards, including the 2019 American Library Association Gerald Hodges Intellectual Freedom Award, 2021 Utah Library Association Legislative Award for Excellence in Political Affairs and Library Advocacy, and 2023 ACLU Utah Torch of Freedom Award for the Let Utah Read coalition.