The American Library Association (ALA) announced that Professor Laura Saunders, who serves as the associate dean of Simmons’ School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) and director of the Simmons Center for Information Literacy (SCIL), has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the Beta Phi Mu Award.
Per ALA’s website, “this [award] is given in recognition of the achievement of a library school faculty member or another individual for distinguished service to education for librarianship … and is sponsored by the Beta Phi Mu International Library Science Honor Society … The jury was impressed by Dr. Laura Saunders’ support of not only students, but LIS instructors through her scholarship contributions and service to the profession as well as the positive recommendation from colleagues within her institution and practitioners from graduate programs across the US.”
The Beta Phi Mu Award will be presented in person at an award ceremony during ALA’s annual conference, which will be held in Chicago on June 28.