John D. Byrum Jr., recently retired chief of the Regional and Cooperative Cataloging Division, has been selected to receive the Melvil Dewey Medal, which recognizes distinguished service to the profession of librarianship.
John Byrum - Charlynn Spencer Pyne
The American Library Association (ALA) will present its prestigious award to Byrum on June 27, during its annual conference in New Orleans.
Like Melvil Dewey, according to the ALA, Byrum has been successful in cataloging and classification and using and developing the tools and techniques of librarianship. He also has been a leader in library management and library training. His published papers, conference presentations and keynote speeches have been delivered nationally and internationally.
"The jury for this year's Melvil Dewey Medal is pleased to honor John Byrum for his extraordinary leadership in the fields of cataloging and bibliographic standards, both nationally and internationally, during a distinguished career spanning four decades," said Melvil Dewey Jury Chair Winston Tabb of Johns Hopkins University. Tabb was formerly the associate librarian for Library Services at the Library of Congress.
The ALA nominating jury noted Byrum's role in "creating, enlarging and sustaining the Program for Cooperative Cataloging that, since its establishment in 1992, has made truly cooperative cataloging a reality for libraries throughout the world. This accomplishment is not just of a high order, but of the highest order."
Byrum is an active member of the American Library Association and the International Federation of Libraries Association. He has received numerous awards, including the Esther J. Piercy Award and the Margaret Mann Citation.
In addition to Tabb, the members of the 2006 Melvil Dewy Award Jury are Lizbeth Bishoff, University of Colorado at Boulder; Dottie Hiebing, Metropolitan New York Library council; Shirley Loo, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; and Monecia T. Samuel, Duke University, Durham, N.C.
