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About

T. Mark Hodges International Service Award

T. Mark Hodges (1933–2006) was a lifelong believer in the importance of international connections between librarians. The T. Mark Hodges International Service Award was established in 2007 to honor outstanding individual achievement in promoting, enabling, and/or delivering improvements in the quality of health information internationally through the development of health information professionals, the improvement of libraries, or an increased use of health information services. 

Criteria

  • Membership in MLA is not required.
  • Nominees usually would hold a professional library or information science qualification but in the case of exceptional candidates this criterion may be waived.
  • The award is designed to enable MLA to recognize the widest range of achievement in the development of health information services in the international context. It will normally recognize a professional contribution over a sustained period of time, but may also mark a single, outstanding achievement of global significance.
  • The nominee’s achievement may cover the whole range of health information services or a single aspect, and similarly, it may be worldwide in its impact or of more narrow and intense focus.

Nominations

  • The nomination, including all supporting documentation, must be completed no later than October 15.
  • The nomination must contain at least the following elements:
    • Description of the nominee’s accomplishments in international service, including the nature and quality of the nominee’s work, noting special achievements, innovation, initiative, special strengths, and demonstration of abilities;
    • Description of the nominee’s impact of work on immediate beneficiaries and the extent of its influence beyond those beneficiaries;
    • Description of the nominee’s service to the profession, to relevant professional organizations, and other evidence of his or her professional leadership role;
  • The extent of the visibility and recognition of the nominee’s achievements by colleagues, administrators, and library users; and
  • Description of the nominee’s major current undertakings that demonstrate continuing work and involvement in international health sciences librarianship.
  • Up to three letters of support may be included with the nomination.
  • Nominee's resume or curriculum vitae in support of the nomination may be included.

The recipient will be notified in March and the option of receiving a cash prize of $500, or a donation from the Medical Library Association (MLA) in the amount of $500 to a charity of their choice. If there are no appropriate candidates, the association may elect not to make the award in a given year.

Ready to Submit a Nomination

  • Nominations for the 2024 award will open in August 2023.

Past Award Recipients

  • 2023: Karin Saric
  • 2022: Erin RB Eldermire
  • 2021: Bethany S. McGowan, AHIP
  • 2020: Laura Shane Godbolt (posthumous)
  • 2019: none awarded
  • 2018: none awarded
  • 2017: Gurpreet Kaur Rana
  • 2016: Elaine Russo Martin
  • 2015: Kimberly Parker
  • 2014: Paulraj Kirubanithi
  • 2013: Pascal Mouhouelo
  • 2012: Alice E. Hadley, AHIP
  • 2011: none awarded
  • 2010: Lenny Rhine, FMLA
  • 2009: Donna Flake
  • 2008: Carol Lefebvre
  • 2007: T. Mark Hodges, FMLA (posthumous)

Have a question? Contact MLA