Alumni Board Recognizes Martha Earl as 2006 Distinguished Alumni
The School of Information Sciences Alumni Board honored Martha Earl with the 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award. SIS Alumni Board President Margaret Casado announced the award at the SIS Alumni & Friends Day, March 11, at the university’s McClung Museum. Earl, a 1985 graduate, is Reference Coordinator at the UT Preston Medical Library in Knoxville.
A consummate librarian, she has worked in academic and special libraries continuously since 1980. Tena Litherland stated in her nomination letter that “few graduates from the School of Information Sciences have so tirelessly worked for Tennessee libraries and its professional associations as has Martha Earl.” Indeed, Earl gives reliable and committed service to several library organizations—and serves or has served in leadership positions in the Medical Library Association, the Tennessee Health Sciences Libraries Association, TennShare, and the Tennessee Advisory Council on Libraries, among others. She is a Distinguished Member of the Academy of Health Information Professionals.
Martha Earl is a long-term and dedicated member of the Tennessee Library Association, having served as President in 1998-99, and in other capacities on the Board of Directors and Conference Committees.
Throughout her professional career, Earl has not only demonstrated excellence in publishing, teaching, and service to the profession, she has raised the bar for other librarians. At the SIS Alumni & Friends Day, Earl thanked her mentor, Janet Fisher, with whom she worked at Quillen College of Medicine Library at East Tennessee State University.
“Janet Fisher told me that the best way to repay her for her guidance over the years was to mentor other librarians along the way,” said Earl. “It’s very important to give back to the profession and to Tennessee libraries. Leadership is service.”
Martha Earl’s career reads like a road map, linking one success to the next. She has authored or co-authored over 20 peer reviewed articles, including articles in American Libraries, and she gives frequent presentations for local health and consumer groups, and at state and regional library conferences. In short, Martha Earl works tirelessly to improve access to health information for librarians, consumers, and health professionals in Tennessee, and her visibility and energy redefine and give meaning to the school’s Distinguished Alumni Award program.
Visit the SIS Distinguished Alumni Award website for more information.
