Associate Vice President for Research Joyce Kinkead was given the annual Library Faculty Award in recognition of her donations to the Merrill-Cazier Library. The award was presented to her on Oct. 27.

Kinkead endowed the May Swenson room and designated it as a place for students to study. Swenson is a USU alumna who graduated in the 1930s and has since become a renowned poet throughout the U.S. and the world, Kinkead said. The room displays Swenson’s poems, each coupled with an artifact – one being a Navajo blanket – which represents the topic of the poem.

John Elsweiler, the library’s associate dean of public services, said, “She has definitely been very influential throughout her career with involving undergraduates in the research process.”

The exhibits are designed by students in an English class taught by Paul Crumbley, Kinkead said. The study and exhibit hall has created a research opportunity for students, she said.

“I’ve always integrated library use in my classes,” Kinkead said.

Kinkead not only started an undergraduate research endowment for the library, she has been involved in the English writing program for English 1010 and 2010 classes, Elsweiler said. She has also taken the time to work with English teachers’ assistants in the writing program process. In addition to her role as research vice president, Kinkead teaches upper-division English classes.

Elsweiler said Kinkead has been with the university for more than 20 years.

“In her tenure she has been supportive of the library and the library’s mission,” Elsweiler said.

The library deans take recommendations from the librarians to make the decision of who receives the Library Faculty Award. Elsweiler said this is done because librarians often work in closer proximity to the best candidates for the award. Once the candidates have been selected, the library administration makes a final decision on who will receive the award at the ceremony.

“I was surprised to get it,” Kinkead said.

She said the honor’s corner was named after her and the dedication was initiated by the honor’s program. Accompanying the Library Faculty Award is an award for service the library bestows annually, and the recipient this year is the Utah State Today editor, Patrick Williams.

Kinkeads successes include authoring the books “A Schoolmarm All My Life: Personal Narratives From Frontier Utah,” “Writing Centers in Context” and “Literary Utah: A Bibliographic Guide.” Kinkead has also received an award for “Top Prof” Outstanding Faculty Member, Humanist of the Year and ASUSU Faculty Service. Throughout her career she has encouraged all of her students to invest themselves in meaningful research and utilize the sources the library offers in doing so.

– catherine.meidell@aggiemail.usu.edu