Duane Hicks
The late Joyce Cunningham made an impact on the library scene not only locally but provincially.
Her legacy was acknowledged last month with the unveiling of a prestigious new library award named after her, as well as her being honoured with the Larry Moore Distinguished Service Award for her work on behalf of libraries.
The new Joyce Cunningham Award for Library Board of the Year was granted to inaugural winners, the Windsor Library Board, at the Ontario Library Association’s 2016 Super Conference on Jan. 28 in Toronto.
Prior to this year, the Ontario Library Board Association’s sole award was the James Bain Medallion, which was for outstanding individuals.
Cunningham herself was honoured with it in 2013.
After OLBA received many nominations for entire library boards, it decided to review whether it should change the criteria for the James Bain Medallion.
After consulting Cunningham, she made it clear the criteria for that award should not be changed.
Accepting her opinion, the OLBA decided to create a new award the Public Library Board of the Year Award.
Cunningham approved of it and the OLBA began to accept nominations for entire boards “that had demonstrated a high level of collaboration and innovation to produce outstanding results,” noted outgoing OLBA president Lynn Humfress-Trute.
“Sadly, all of us in the library world were shocked and deeply saddened to hear of Joyce’s sudden demise on Nov. 7, 2015,” she added.
“However, knowing Joyce, she would not want us to be sad; rather just to go on and have a glass of a fine, single malt in her honour.
“And I also know Joyce would not approve of changing the name of the award to honour her memory,” said Humfress-Trute.
“I’m sorry, Joyce, because I know you are watching us, but in this case, the current OLBA council has out-voted you.”
Incoming OLBA president Pierre Mercier told Fort Frances Public Library Board chair Andrew Hallikas that Cunningham was the individual who got him started working at the provincial level.
“Joyce told me I could do it, and that I should do it,” Mercier recalled.
“And if Joyce thought that, then I knew I had to do it.”
Hallikas said he always has respected Cunningham as a teacher, librarian, union activist and executive member, library board chair, and library advocate,.
She has won many awards over the years, not only for her work in the library field but for her union-related work and activism, including the OSSTF’s Norm Snyder Award at both the district and provincial levels.
But after attending the library conference, Hallikas said he was awestruck by how well-known and respected Cunningham was by library professionals, activists, and leaders right across the province.
“Joyce is one of those people who has made a difference,” he remarked.
Hallikas attended the Super Conference with local library CEO Alicia Subnaik Kilgour and library programming director Andrea Avis.
Avis did a presentation on the “Let’s Speak Ojibwe” program which has run at the local library.
She delivered “a very energetic, enthusiastic account of our library’s initiative to build trust, relationships, and partnerships with area First Nations, and how the library has labelled books that are about First Nations’ people or written by First Nation authors.”
Hallikas said Avis’ presentation was well-attended and well-received, adding that later on in the conference, both he and Subnaik Kilgour heard delegates still talking about it.
He added Subnaik Kilgour, who is well-known and respected in the Ontario library world, as well, also convened some workshops and spent time networking and staying current with library happenings.
Hallikas noted that thanks to people such as Cunningham, Avis, and Subnaik Kilgour, not to mention the rest of the library staff, board members, and volunteers, put Fort Frances and its library “on the map.”
“We attract people to Fort Frances and this has economic spin-offs,” he remarked.
