Kowalski's nominations cited her "cunning ideas," including an "iStaff Mobile Innovation Studio," a mobile station at her library with an iPad, projector, and computers. Students versed in this technology assist their peers using the equipment for school projects at the Pine Grove Middle School in East Syracuse, where Kowalsky is school librarian.
Locke's innovations included creating digital book trailers with her students and creating a monthly digital school newsletter in collaboration with a technology teacher at Westport's Saugatuck Elementary School, where she's a library media specialist, according to her nomination.
Each honoree received a $5,000 cash award, a plaque, and a $500 travel stipend to attend the awards reception in New York City. Nominees must be librarians with a master's degree from an ALA-accredited MLIS program or a master's specializing in school library media from an educational unit accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.
