A Maine Librarian Gets National Recognition

March 19, 2013

Valerie Osborne
Northeastern Maine Library District Consultant
Maine State Library
(207) 947-8336 x 114

Sue Bricknell
Bangor Public Library

The Maine State Library is proud to announce that a Maine librarian will be honored this summer in Atlanta. On March 6, Romance Writers of America announced that Sarah Whitten was its 2013 Librarian of the Year. This award was established in 1995 to honor librarians who go above and beyond in their support of the romance genre, its authors, and readers. Whitten will speak at the Romance Writers of America's conference in Atlanta in July. Sarah has worked at the Bangor Public Library since 2005. She is known to be the voice for romance fiction.

Romance Writers of America is dedicated to advancing the professional interests of career-focused romance writers through networking and advocacy. Based in Houston, Texas the organization has more than 10,000 members nationally. Membership consists of aspiring and published authors, publishing industry professionals, and librarians and booksellers who support the romance genre.

Ms Whitten presents the importance of romance to the public by recommending the finest in romance writing to library users and by blogging about new titles and recommended authors. She voices her support of this genre to librarians at local and state conferences as well through blogs and other social media. She is the cofounder of a book group called Not Your Ordinary Book Group, which serves as a romance discussion group for people in the Bangor area. The Not Your Ordinary Book Group is so “not so ordinary” and was the focus of a featured article in the September 1, 2011 issue of Library Journal. The Maine Community Foundation awarded this group a grant to purchase Nooks for the Bangor Public Library that members and other Library patrons may use and funds to purchase multiple copies of romance titles as e-books for its discussion.

Barbara McDade, director of the Bangor Public Library said that she was very excited that Sarah won this award. “I’m proud that a national organization recognizes the role that librarians play in helping people find new titles, authors and even genres. I’m pleased that Sarah has been recognized for providing outstanding service to our public.”

For more information on the Not So Ordinary Book Group, see the Bangor Public Library’s website at http://www.bpl.lib.me.us or call the Library at 947-8336.