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February 20, 2008 — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dick Strauss (President of OCPL Board of Trustees), Brian Dobreski (Award Winner), Deb Bendig (Award Winner), Kate McCaffrey (Deputy Director of OCPL), Ed Kochian (Deputy County Executive)
SYRACUSE, NY — Deborah Bendig, Systems Librarian at Central Library, and Brian Dobreski, Automation/Technical Services Librarian at Central Library, received the 2008 Ossie Golden Trustees’ Award in a February 5, ceremony at the Smith Room in the Central Library.
The OCPL Board of Trustees authorized the Ossie Golden Trustees’ Award in 1978 to encourage, recognize, and reward an uncommonly high level of service or attainment by Central and branch library staff members. Staff members are nominated by coworkers, who must write a letter detailing a nominee’s outstanding achievement. OCPL administrators and a designated board member, review the nominations and recommend to the full board the nominee who fulfills the award criteria to the highest degree.
Both librarians played key roles in implementing the new library catalog that made its debut on October 23, 2007. The new catalog offers patrons exciting ways to locate and reserve books, DVDs, music, CDs, and other items. The catalog also offers different language interfaces, an RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feed – for tracking books by favorite authors, book summaries and reviews, saved searches, and easier access for patron’s to view their accounts.
Putting all the new catalog features in place and training the entire staff within the OCPL system to use the equipment was not an easy task. “Deb Bendig and Brian Dobreski have presented a sense of calm and a positive “can do” attitude towards the implementation of the new catalog, a major technological change to the library’s circulation system,” wrote one staff member who nominated the team for the award.
Friends, family and staff members gathered at the Central Library to honor the award winners. The award consists of a cash grant and a personalized, framed certificate. Winner’s names are also inscribed on an Award bowl, listing past award recipients.