Award categories
In 2024, awards were made in five categories:
- Indigenous Leader Award – Australia
- Indigenous Leader Award – Aotearoa New Zealand
- Emerging Leader Award
- Outstanding Library Team Award
- Distinguished Service Award
The criteria for the categories are provided below, as published during the call for nominations.
Indigenous Leader Award
The Indigenous Leader Award recognises Indigenous Australians and New Zealanders’ contributions to academic libraries and CAUL’s work.
In 2024, nominations were invited for a single award, open to Australian or Aotearoa New Zealand Indigenous community members. Following the close of nominations, a decision was made to offer two awards, one for each of Australia and Aotearoa.
Nominations must demonstrate evidence of leadership impact or advocacy in service provision, innovation or people leadership.
Nominees in this category may also be nominated for the Emerging Leader Award or Distinguished Service Award. The nominator should indicate this on the nomination form and address the additional criteria for the other category in the nomination.
The recipient is awarded $1,500 to use for professional development purposes, such as a study program or attending a conference.
Emerging Leader Award
The Emerging Leader Award recognises a leader in the first ten years of their career who models exemplary leadership behaviours and demonstrates significant achievements that contribute to realising the institution’s goals or the advancement of the profession more generally.
Nominations must demonstrate evidence of one or more of the following:
- Innovation, initiative or demonstration of leadership of people or projects.
- Service and contribution to the profession.
- Research that advances university library practice.
The recipient is awarded $1,500 to use for professional development purposes, such as a study program or attending a conference.
Outstanding Library Team Award
The Outstanding Library Team Award recognises a library team or specific project group that has demonstrated excellent leadership in delivering significant service improvement or cultural change aligned with organisational priorities.
Nominations must demonstrate evidence of
- either a significant service improvement or positive organisational or cultural change
- collegial work – including supporting colleagues in the achievement of goals or outcomes
- sustainability and scalability of the initiative.
The recipient team is awarded $3,000 to use for professional development purposes, such as a study program or attending a conference.
Distinguished Service Award
The Distinguished Service Award recognises an individual who has made an outstanding local, regional or national contribution to university libraries or the profession that has benefitted the CAUL community.
Nominations must demonstrate evidence of a significant or strategic contribution in more than one of the following areas:
- CAUL’s operations.
- Advancing CAUL’s strategic programs.
- Raising CAUL’s profile.
- Raising the profile of professional issues of importance to CAUL Members.
- Professional leadership at a national or international level through advocacy, representation or other professional contributions.
- Innovation and achievement at the local, regional or national level.
The nomination will also be assessed for evidence that the nominee is recognised as an influential senior leader and mentor.
The recipient is awarded a plaque or pin and is listed on the virtual honour roll.
Administration of the awards
Awards timeline
The awards opened for nominations on Tuesday 27 August 2024 and closed on Monday 30 September 2024.
Nominations
Nominations may be made by the nominee or by a third party.
A structured nomination form is provided for each award category:
- Indigenous Leader Award
- Emerging Leader Award
- Outstanding Library Team Award
- Distinguished Service Award
All nominations must include:
- the completed nomination form for the relevant award category
- at least one testimonial from a supervisor, peer or colleague that supports the nomination (maximum of three testimonials) provided as a PDF file
- an endorsement from the relevant university librarian or equivalent (not required for nominations for awards to be made to university librarians) provided as a PDF file.
The quality of the nomination has a significant impact on outcomes. Tips for writing a high-quality awards nomination to help you write your nomination and secure high-quality testimonials and endorsements are available on request.
Nominations are made via the online submission form.
Judging
The 2024 adjudication panel for the Emerging Leader, Outstanding Library Team and Distinguished Service Awards comprised:
- Nicole Clark, Executive Director, Student Services and Wellbeing, Queensland University of Technology, and Board Chair, CAUL
- Jane Angel, CEO, CAUL
- Clare Thorpe, Director Library Services, Southern Cross University
- Sue Roberts, University Librarian, The University of Auckland
- Greg Sawyer, CEO, CAUDIT.
The 2024 adjudication panel for the Indigenous Leader Award comprised:
- Nicole Clark, Executive Director, Student Services and Wellbeing, Queensland University of Technology, and Board Chair, CAUL
- Jane Angel, CEO, CAUL
- Clare Thorpe, Director Library Services, Southern Cross University
- Michelle Blake, University Librarian, University of Waikato
- Lesley Acres, Manager, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Collections, The University of Queensland
- Yanti Ropeyarn, Senior Specialist, Indigenous Initiatives, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Archives (ATSIDA), University of Technology Sydney.