Rikki Unterbrink, former youth services coordinator at Bluffton Public Library, is among four librarians who are national recipients of the 2014 Penguin Young Readers Group Award, presented by the Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC). Unterbrink is now on the staff of Amos Memorial Library, Sidney.

She is recipient of a stipend worth up to $600, made possible by an annual gift from Penguin Young Readers Group, which enables her to attend an American Library Association’s Annual Conference.

Applicants must demonstrate an involvement in ALSC as well as other professional and educational associations. New programming or innovations initiated by the applicants in elementary, middle schools or public libraries is required.

Serving patrons from toddlers to teens, fundraising using Pinterest and integrating French into Preschool storytime are a few of the programs initiated by Rikki Unterbrink.

According to Cindi Chasse, recently retired director of the Bluffton Public Library, much of the programming cited in the announcement Unterbrink did while working at Bluffton Public Library.

Unterbrink launched such popular activities as Steampunk Awareness Day, supported by a YALSA Teen Tech Week mini grant, followed by Zombie Awareness Day and a Family-Feud Zombie game. 

Unterbrink said that initiating a Teen Advisory Group (TAG) at the Bluffton Public Library was her most important innovation as she received valuable input on programming while instilling leadership skills as the teens went on to plan and conduct programming on their own.

“The committee is thrilled with the creativeness of programming, amount of professional involvement, and leadership skills passed onto to children,” said Nancy Baumann, grant administration chair. “Attending the annual conference will be of great benefit for each recipient.”

About ALSC
ALSC, a division of the ALA, is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. With a network of more than 4,000 children’s and youth librarians, literature experts, publishers and educational faculty, ALSC is committed to creating a better future for children through libraries. To learn more about ALSC, visit ALSC’s website at www.ala.org/alsc.

Other recipients are: JoAnna Schofield, Akron-Summit County Public Library, Akron, Ohio; Rikki Unterbrink, Amos Memorial Library, Sidney, Ohio; Amanda Yother, Putnam County Library, Cookeville, Tenn.; and Emily Dumas, Commerce Township (Mich.) Community Library, Commerce Township.

Members of the 2014 ALSC Grant Administration Committee include:  Nancy Baumann, chair, University of Missouri School of Information Science & Learning Technologies; Sondra Sue Eklund, Fairfax County (Va.) Public Library; Jonathan Hunt, San Diego (Calif.) County Office of Education; Susan Poulter, Main Library Nashville (Tenn.) Public Library; Elizabeth Stalford, Bellevue (Wash.) Public Library; Julie Danielson, Deanna Mae Romriell, Salt Lake City (Utah) Public Library; Patty Saidenberg, New York, N.Y.; Destinee Sutton, Burien (Wash.) Library.