In 2003, the association established an award in recognition of the late Sylvia Murphy Williams, 2002-2003 ILA President and Director of the Dundee Township Public Library.
The award provides encouragement and support to Illinois recipients of the ALA Spectrum Initiative Scholarship. The Spectrum Initiative was created to address the issues of underrepresentation of ethnic librarians within the profession and to serve as a model for ways to bring attention to other diversity issues. Visit the ALA Website to learn more about the Spectrum Scholarship Program or to apply for the scholarship.
Sylvia Murphy Williams Awardees receive a paid registration to the current ILA Annual Conference, recognition at the annual conference award luncheon, and a featured article in an ILA publication.
Fast Forward Libraries Sponsorship
To support ILA's commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Fast Forward Libraries LLC has pledged a $1,000 sponsorship to the Sylvia Murphy Williams Award.
Previous Sylvia Murphy Williams Award Winners
2003 Alanna Aiko Moore
2004 Patrice Monique Johnson
2005 Maria Magdalena Cortez-Tafolla, LaToya Charise Eddington, Nancy Suzanne Gistover, and Corinne Ruth Hatcher
2006 Patricia Hswe, Karam Hwang, Malino Khun, Sally Ma, Veronika Seidl, and Victoria Vanlandingham
2007 Rita Felton-Mitchell, Brenda Garcia, Jason Yamashita, Robert L. Jones, and Sarah Beth Okner
2008 Linda Sue Collins, Harriett Elizabeth Green, Deana Greenfield, Elizabeth Hernandez, Hannah Lee, Laksamee Anne Putnam, and Roy Saldana, Jr.
2009 Youngmie Han, Aaisha Haykal, Janee Jackson, Yasmeen Shorish, and Umesh Thakkar
2010 Joseph Bellanca, Felipe Alberto Castillo, Janis Elmore, Nancy Gallegos, Peter Grassman, Mosi Kamau, Leni Matthews, Karla Nielsen, Erin Prentiss, and Lisa West
2011 Barbara Abb Akvarez, Robina Button, Marissa Garcia, Lily Grant, Marika Jeffrey, Rebecca M. King, Daniel J. Lee, and Margita Lidaka
2012 Anthony Bishop, Liza Booker, Christina Nhek, Thomas Padilla, Charlotte Roh, and Jose Miguel Ruiz
2013 Jessica Bastian, Fanny Camargo, William K. Langston, Cecily Randle El, Katherine Rojas, and Sophie Young
2014 Alonso Avila, Lucero Gonzalez, Bradley Jermaine Kuykendall, Jhani Miller, Jerrod D. Moore, Maria Lourdes R. San Ramon, Alejandra Santana, and Jason Toms
2015 Vivian Alvarez, Anna Buck, Ariel Gonzalez, Heather Hummons, Erik Ponder, Jennifer Smith, Alice Son, and Brittany Viesca
2016 Rebecca Arriola, Elisandro Cabada, Ariel Erbacher, Jesus Espinoza, April Hummons, Jasmine Kirby, Nisha Mody, Araceli Moreno, Theodore Quiballo, Alison Rollins, Anjelica Rufus-Barnes, and Monica Tapia
2017 Marcus A. Berry, Darnetta Bolton, Jaime Bravo, Christina D. Bush, Kelly S. Campos, Sharon Han, Kristin Lansdown, Carli V. Lowe, Van McGary, Siobhan A. McKissic, Joan J. Parker, Aldo Vasquez
2018 Aicha Azzaoui, Xena Becker, Amanda V. Lopez, Katherine Sharon Lopez, Cynthia Medrano Torres, Teresa Helena Moreno, and Jennifer Patino
2019 Nada Abdelrahim, Nicholas Berrios, Lauren Camarillo, Carol Ng-He, Priscilla Resendiz, Diana Rocha, Kevin Whiteneir, and Rita Oliveira-Wilkenfeld
2020 Amanda He, Kyra Lee, Mayra Rosas, Mimosa Shah, Megdelawit Abebe, Alex Aspiazu, Danielle Luz Belanger, María del Carmen Cifuentes, Tacia Díaz, Luisa Leija, Krystal Madkins, Anthony Martinez, Ashley Mitchell, Chinyere E. Oteh, and Rayyon Robinson
2021 Ashley Bolger, Sheridan Cazarez, Bonita Dyess, Brandi Hart, Cordiah Hayes, Leslie Lopez Holder, Kaila Thomas, Ide Thompson, Celina Tirona, and Cynthia Wade
2022 Megha Bamola, Carrieann Cahall, Sanobar Chagani, Estefania Eiquihua, Maria Rebeca Escamilla, Aliya Estes, Zhaneille Green, Kayla Johnson, Inbar Michael, Wardah Mohammed, Bianca Phipps, Marycruz Flores Reynoso, Daynali Flores Rodriguez, Erica Rodriguez, and Faria Zafer
2023 Alyssa Brown, Cristina Amelia Bueno, Camryn "Cam" Kianna Burkins, Abigail Rose DeWeese, Sarah Rebecca Velazquez Gaglio, Victor Jesus Lopez, Angelica Moreno Lopez, Andrea Serna, and Sally Vinanzaca
2024 Citlalli Cardenas, Bethany Hill, Leslie Lopez, Katherine Mendoza-Gonzalez, Anita Sharma, Hilda Vázquez Medina, and Daniel Vesurai
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