Winning awards isn’t a part of Arthur Young’s everyday life.

Young, NIU’s dean of libraries, is pleased to be the recipient of the 2001Illinois Academic Librarian of the Year Award. Young, who currently is serving as president of the Illinois Library Association, didn’t know about the award until a couple of weeks before the presentation.

“Sometimes you hear that you are going to be nominated for an award,” Young said. “This was all the nicer because I didn’t know at all about the award until I was told a week or so before the awards.”

The Illinois Academic Librarian of the Year Award, established in 1985, acknowledges the accomplishments of library services through those who have served prominently within the library academic atmosphere. However, Young feels the award is an accomplishment from within not only himself, but his colleagues as well.

“I feel singularly honored to be recognized by my Illinois academic library colleagues,” Young said in a press release announcing his award. “The award also belongs to the NIU library faculty and staff. We have made many advances together over the years.”

Young received the award at the annual conference ceremony held in Springfield on Oct. 18.

“When you get an award from people who work closely with you, it means something,” Young said.

For Young, coming to Illinois was a step toward his career goals.

Young received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Tufts University in Massachusetts, where he was raised. He then obtained a master’s degree in history from the University of Massachusetts. Next, Young went to Syracuse University where he received a master’s degree in library science. Finally, Young went to the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign to receive his Ph.D. in library science.

“I have made a couple of good early choices in my career,” Young said, regarding his education.

Young has worked at NIU’s library for the last eight years. He chose NIU because he believes that it is not only a good school, but also because NIU has a well-established library.

“The university supports the library very well,” Young said. “We have good faculty support and the administration is very supportive. The staff here is also really good.”

Outside of work, Young keeps busy.

His wife Patricia worked as a teacher and then went on to become a school librarian in Sycamore. Young strongly believes that his wife along with other special education teachers deserves high honors.

“My wife worked as a special education teacher,” Young said. “As far as I am concerned, those people get hero medals.”

Young has two sons, John and Chris. Also keeping Young busy these days is his grandson, Evan Richard. Young’s hobbies include photography and collecting 19th century juvenile literature.

Young said his career achievements are something he doesn’t think about everyday. He believes the librarian award presented to him is a result of the hard work and dedication throughout the entire library.

“This award is not just another award to me,” Young said. “It’s a real honor, and it means a lot to me.”