The TS-SIS Awards Committee is pleased to announce that the recipient of the Renee D. Chapman Memorial Award for Outstanding Contributions in Technical Services Law Librarianship for 2024 is Pat Sayre-McCoy.
Jean Pajerek’s remarks at 2024 Chapman Award presentation
It is my very great pleasure to present to Pat Sayre-McCoy, recently retired after a long and distinguished career at the University of Chicago鈥檚 D鈥橝ngelo Law library, the 2024 Renee D. Chapman award for outstanding contributions in technical services law librarianship. My colleague Jackie Magagnosc and I nominated Pat for this award. As we said in our nomination letter: one cannot come away from an encounter with Pat without an awareness of her deep dedication to law librarianship. Her contributions encompass many presentations, publications, and leadership roles on the local, regional, and national levels.
Pat joined 成人视频in 1987 and has actively contributed to technical services law librarianship ever since. She has consistently been one of the pivotal people who make the Association run, as demonstrated by her service on multiple committees and special interest sections. She has coordinated or presented many programs at 成人视频Annual Meeting, including several focused on Resource Description and Access. Most recently she has worked on programs devoted to adapting collection development policies in light of diversity, equity, and inclusion priorities, and management of sensitive information in the library context.
One of Pat鈥檚 most significant roles as a member of 成人视频was a three-year term as the 成人视频representative to MARBI (Machine-Readable Bibliographic Information committee), an international advisory body to the Library of Congress. When the Association decided to discontinue support for 成人视频representatives to MARBI, CC:DA, and the ALA Subject Analysis Committee, Pat was front and center in her forceful defense of continued support for the representatives. When it became clear that Association support would not be possible, she was a key advocate for establishing a dedicated fund (the Cataloging Liaison Fund) to support the essential work of our representatives.
The high esteem in which Pat is held by her colleagues is reflected in the letters we received in support of her nomination for the Chapman Award. Sheri Lewis, Pat鈥檚 former director, writes that: “[t]hroughout her career, Pat Sayre-McCoy has been a respected colleague and leader at her home institution, in the Chicago law librarian community, and nationally, in the 成人视频. Ms. Sayre-McCoy is one of our field’s finest technical services experts, serving her institution and local and national communities for nearly forty years with her extensive knowledge and dedication to law library work and supporting others.”
Michael Maben writes that when he thinks of Pat, “what comes to mind is her steadiness in the face of constant change.” Others mentioned Pat鈥檚 leadership, dedication, and mentorship of librarians new to law librarianship.
I realize there are not many librarians left in 成人视频who still remember Renee Chapman, for whom this award is named. As one of the few remaining librarians who did know Renee and do remember her, I feel confident in saying that she would be proud to see that the tradition of excellence in law library technical services continues, thanks to outstanding librarians like Pat, who truly embodies our values.
Pat, it is with deep appreciation and gratitude for your countless contributions and longstanding service to our profession that we present to you the 2024 Chapman award.