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MLA Awards and Honors

MLA Award for Distinguished Public Service

The MLA Award for Distinguished Public Service was established in 1988 to honor persons whose exemplary actions have served to advance the health, welfare, and intellectual freedom of the public. Awardees are selected by the Board of Directors only on occasions when the merits of a nominee clearly recommend recognition by MLA. Nominees are not limited to members of the library and information sciences profession nor to the association's membership.

Award Recipients

• 2011: The Friends of the National Library of Medicine
  Bethesda, Maryland
• 2008: The Honorable David Obey
  U.S. House of Representatives, Wisconsin
• 2004: The Honorable Arlen Specter
  U.S. Senate, Pennsylvania
• 2003: The Honorable Patrick Leahy
  U.S. Senate, Vermont
• 2002: The Honorable Harry Reid
  U.S. Senate, Nevada
• 2000: The Honorable Rick Boucher
  U.S. House of Representatives, Virginia
• 1998: The Honorable Henry Bonilla
  U.S. House of Representatives, Texas
• 1996: The Honorable Nancy Kassebaum
  U.S. Senate, Kansas and The Honorable John Porter U.S. House of Representatives, Illinois
• 1995: The Honorable Tom Harkin
  U.S. Senate, Iowa
• 1994: The Honorable Edward M. Kennedy
  U.S. Senate, Massachusetts
• 1992: The Honorable Albert Gore, Jr.
  U.S. Senate, Tennessee
• 1991: The Honorable Dale Bumpers
  U.S. Senate, Arkansas
• 1990: The Honorable William H. Natcher
  U.S. House of Representatives, Kentucky
• 1989: The Honorable Lowell Palmer Weicker, Jr.
  Former U.S. Senator, Connecticut
• 1988: The Honorable Claude D. Pepper*
  U.S. House of Representatives, Florida

* Deceased

For more information on the procedures for awards and honors nominations or applications, contact Maria Lopez, 312.419.9094.