Federal Library/Information Center Project of the Year
*NEW for 2025*
Purpose
To recognize and commend the development of an innovative library science project in the federal environment.
Description
This FEDLINK award is given to an individual federal information professional (i.e., a librarian, library technician, or technical information specialist) or a team that includes a federal library staff member. A group nomination may recognize federal librarians and information professionals from a single agency or from multiple agencies. The award consists of a certificate for each individual named in the nomination, as well as recognition for each federal agency represented by the award winners.
A project is defined as a planned and strategized effort geared towards implementing one or more service, program, system, or collection changes in pursuit of, and resulting in, achievements that enhance the library/information center and the agency's mission success. Projects will be considered eligible if they were launched in the previous fiscal year (if the project is ongoing), and/or the current fiscal year.
A plaque which recognizes each year's recipients will be displayed at the FEDLINK offices at the Library of Congress. FEDLINK will cover the cost of travel to attend the FEDLINK Awards Celebration held at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.*:
- For individual award recipients, travel expenses will be covered for both the awardee and a managing official from their home agency.*
- For group project awardees, travel expenses will be covered for one group representative as well as a managing official from that representative's home agency.*
Eligibility
Each recipient must be a federal employee. At least one nominee must be a practicing librarian, information professional, or para-professional staff member. Award recipients are not eligible for multiple FEDLINK awards in the same year. Nominated projects may be resubmitted for future consideration in subsequent fiscal years, so long as the nomination meets the award timeframes and criteria.
Nomination Packet
Nomination Form: Federal Library/Information Center Project of the Year (download PDF)
The nomination packet must be prepared by a self-nominee, a team member of the project, or by an end user or individual in a leadership capacity familiar with the project�s impact. The nominator must be a federal employee or active-duty military member.
Selection criteria statements (not to exceed one page per criterion; cite specific examples and any supporting quantifiable data. Evidence of achievements and contributions is welcome in the form of project assessments and evaluations, especially those outlining project goals, objectives, related statistics, and lessons learned.):
- Mission Support: the extent to which the project assisted in fulfilling one or moreorganizational missions or the extent to which the project highlighted the importance offederal librarians and information professionals and/or federal libraries and informationcenters. (Include any applicable agency and library/information center mission and visionstatements).
- Creativity/Innovation: the novelty of the approach taken to address the problem theproject seeks to solve. Examples of creative or innovative approaches may includeincreasing foot traffic by transforming the physical space in ways that highlight wellnessand accessibility, launching a marketing campaign that revamps an information literacyprogram, or hosting pop-up user experience (UX) sessions to tailor improvements to thelibrary�s web presence.
- Significance/Outcomes: the storytelling behind the data indicating the impact ofthe project on the field of federal librarianship (or the federal library community) or on the perceived value/impact that librarians/information professionals provide in support of theagency�s (or agencies�) mission(s). Consider both the unique federal environment in whichthe project was developed and the promotion of the field of library and information science.Include supporting data such as statistics, customer satisfaction metrics, cost savings tothe institution, program changes, hours involved, assessments and qualitative evaluations,user and leadership feedback, etc.
Supporting materials are encouraged and may include testimonials, memorandums, managerial endorsements, newspaper articles, promotional materials, etc., that relate to the project. See the nomination form for details.
Submission: All nominations must be emailed no later than Monday, December 22, 2025. Please email nominations to FEDLINK at [email protected]. If a nominator does not receive confirmation of the nomination in one week, please contact FEDLINK at [email protected].
Selection Process
The FEDLINK Awards Working Group will receive and screen applications and submit a list of finalists to the FEDLINK Executive Board. The FEDLINK Executive Board will make the final selection and announce the winners in the Spring of 2026.
*Travel pending for FY26.
Last Updated: 01/02/2026
