Mary Lankford Wins Grolier Foundation Award
Educator and author plans to create a library book fund with the $1,000 award
Staff -- School Library Journal, 4/1/2002
Mary D. Lankford, an educator and author, is the 2002 recipient of the American Library Association's (ALA) Grolier Foundation Award.
The $1,000 cash award and citation, donated by the Grolier Publishing Co., is the country's most prestigious award for librarians who serve young people.
Lankford, the director of library services for the Texas Education Agency, says she was humbled by the announcement, particularly since she looked to previous winners as mentors and close friends. "I never look at myself as a person you would turn to for advice," Lankford adds. "I just have a lot of ideas; and I love to solve problems and offer solutions." Lankford plans to use the award money to create a book fund for Texas's children and libraries.
Lankford, who grew up in Texas and decided in fourth grade that she wanted to be a librarian, is the author of several children's books, including Hopscotch Around the World (Morrow, 1996).
