Libraries Honor the 2025 Fall Semester Library Student Assistant Award Recipients

On October 31, 2025, the University Libraries held our biannual Library Student Assistant Award reception. Three students were selected for the Fall semester awards and received a $500 award for their excellent job performance. Library Student Assistant Awards are funded by contributions to the Campus Scholarship Innovative Campaign and from the University Libraries' staff and other donors, and interest earned from the Friends of the Libraries endowment fund. To date, 451 awards have been distributed to 260 students totaling $211,650.

University Libraries staff and the Friends of the Libraries Board would like to congratulate this semester's winners:

Alanna Carey, is a Sophomore double-majoring in Dance and Communication Studies who has worked in the Resource Delivery Services department since September 2024. Alanna has a strong work ethic, professional demeanor, thorough job knowledge, and the ability to spot potential problems. She handles tasks efficiently and accurately and is ready to take on any new or out-of-the ordinary task that may come up. Staff do not hesitate to assign these tasks to her as they know she will handle them with care and good judgment.

Alanna arrives to work with a positive attitude and a smile on her face. When working in the stacks, if she finds books out of place, she is quick to let RDS staff know the shelf may be out of order and goes above and beyond by recommending she fix the shelves that may be out of order and offers to look for misplaced books by walking around the building and doing a thorough cleanup. She mentors new RDS student assistants and is always willing to assist at the circulation desk when the desk gets busy. She is an advocate of the library and loves sharing with her friends all that the library has to offer. She is a valuable part of the RDS team and we hope to have her working with us for as long as possible.

Alanah Culbreath, a Senior majoring in Fine Arts, has worked for the Instruction & Research Services department since August of 2022. Alanah has an upbeat, can-do attitude and is always helpful and courteous with co-workers and patrons. She manages and prioritizes questions that come up both in person and over the phone at the Information Desk. On the rare occasion when she isn’t sure how to answer a question, she knows exactly how to refer appropriately so our patrons never feel like they are getting the runaround. Alanah has helped train new student assistants that have joined our team – she is a wonderful student to shadow because she works calmly and efficiently and is very familiar with our campus and services.

While working the Information Desk, Alanah provides technical assistance especially with the tricky printing system. Answering numerous printing questions can be challenging but she demonstrates an eagerness and determination to make sure our users get what they need. She contributes so much to the Information Desk and other projects. She has made thousands of library swag buttons for student events, has created flyers and posters, helps staff tabling events, and assists with book displays to name a few.

Alanah also serves on the Library Student Advisory Board and has ideas for future projects she hopes to complete as part of this team. Her conscientiousness, positive attitude, reliability, and team focus make her a valued addition to the University Libraries.

Faith Harrel, is a Senior majoring in Education and has been working for the Resource Delivery Services department since April 2024. She is studying to become a future middle school science teacher with a chemistry focus. Faith’s attention to detail and enthusiasm for libraries is an appreciated strength that she brings to her daily tasks. She’s eager to learn about our library policies and services to ensure she knows what resources and services are available for students, and she seeks to learn the library system as a whole.

Faith enjoys working in the stacks and discovering all the cool books most students would not know are in our collection. She has assisted our Interlibrary Loan department find books in the stacks and our Course Reserves department reorganize the books due to the Sierra to Alma software movement. She has a positive attitude and has shown extra initiative in doing whatever projects are needed to help the Resource Delivery Services department run more smoothly.

Faith is a very reliable worker and is willing to volunteer for extra hours if we are short staffed. She is diligent and very task-oriented and focused. Her strong work ethic, positive attitude towards working in the library, and eagerness to learn about all the resources we have to offer students, make her a valuable asset to our team.