Six Students Honoured at the 2026 Friends of the Libraries Student Library Awards 

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On Thursday, May 7, 2026, students, library staff, and members of the Friends of the McGill Libraries came together to celebrate the recipients of the second annual Friends of the Libraries Student Library Awards. The ceremony brought together parents, family members, friends, librarians, Friends of the Libraries supporters, and professors, creating a warm, festive atmosphere that reflected the strong sense of community supporting the students’ achievements.  

That sense of community is at the heart of the awards themselves. Generously supported by the Friends of the Libraries, the program recognizes outstanding use of library services and information resources in undergraduate work. This year, it expanded to include six awards of $1,000 each, up from four in its inaugural year, reflecting the program’s growing reach and enthusiasm.  

As Lenore Harris, Chair of the Friends of the McGill Libraries, reflected, “The Friends of the McGill Libraries are honoured to support this award and to celebrate the remarkable talent, imagination, and intellectual curiosity of our undergraduate students. The award not only highlights student accomplishment but also affirms the essential role that libraries play in fostering scholarship, innovation, and creativity.” 

The awards honour undergraduate students who most effectively demonstrated how library services and resources informed and strengthened their research projects, lab reports, critically appraised topics, creative works, or other coursework. Recipients distinguished themselves through a clear understanding of the connection between their scholarly work and the library tools, expertise, and collections that supported it. 

This focus was reflected in an especially strong response to this year’s call for submissions. Entries increased significantly, and the overall quality was exceptional. Support letters from faculty and student reflections pointed to ambitious topics, advanced research skills, and levels of engagement that exceeded expectations for undergraduate work. “We’re incredibly proud and inspired by how students leveraged the resources and expertise of the Libraries to make this work possible,” said Katherine Hanz, Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning. Jury members agreed, citing the originality and depth of the submissions, which made selecting just six winners particularly challenging. 

For Guylaine Beaudry, Trenholme Dean of Libraries, the awards also speak to something enduring. “The nominated students and winners demonstrated impressive care and rigour, and their stories point to an exciting future for those just beginning their scholarly journeys,” she said. Reflecting on the initiative’s generational support, she added, “We’re so grateful to the Friends of the Libraries -many of whom once learned in these very spaces – for championing today’s students. Seeing that shared love of the libraries come full circle is quite powerful.”  

Special thanks to the professors who penned letters of support for all nominees; jurists from the Friends of the Libraries committee Jonathan Crago and Stephanie Khalil‑Taylor; and to librarians, co‑jurists, and award organizers Jill Boruff, Katherine Hanz, and Hye‑jin Juhn for their time, insight, and commitment. 

Learn more about each of this year’s winners below, and congratulations to all nominated students and award recipients on their outstanding achievements! 

Justine Adlhoch-Mathé’s essay entitled, “What Motivates Alleyway Greening? Sociospatial Determinants of Alley Greening and Civic Mobilization in Montreal” impressed the jury in numerous ways. Jury members loved how Justine recognized that the Libraries are an integral part of the research process. Justine, a third year undergraduate student in the Faculty of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, gave excellent examples of this integration via her extensive use of geospatial data resources from the collection as well as research support from head librarian of the Macdonald Campus Library Emily MacKenzie. Her advisor commented that, “Justine used the Libraries as an active research environment that shaped both the direction and the sophistication of her work.” 

Nina Barry (U3, Faculty of Arts) impressed the jury with her project, “The Effects of School‑Based Music‑Making Programs on Musical Enjoyment and Verbal Social Overtures of Neurodivergent Youth.” Jury members noted the strength of Nina’s engagement with the Libraries as an essential part of her research process. According to her advisor, Dr. Eve‑Marie Quintin, the “vast body of literature available through the McGill Libraries” played a significant role in the outstanding quality of Nina’s work. Nina’s application essay further highlighted how her use of library services extended well beyond accessing scholarly sources. She described how Psychology liaison librarian Emily Kingsland supported her learning by teaching effective strategies for searching and filtering databases and organizing research materials. Nina also made extensive use of the Libraries’ workshops and instructional videos on citation management, demonstrating a thoughtful and integrated approach to research support. 

Jooyoung Choi (U1, Ingram School of Nursing) was recognized for her pathophysiology project on “Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD)”. Committee members were impressed by the depth with which Jooyoung navigated the range of information resources and research services available through McGill Libraries. 

Jooyoung’s vlog‑style video presentation compellingly illustrated the holistic and evolving nature of searching for high‑quality clinical evidence, capturing how different library tools and services informed each stage of her research process. In her letter of support, Professor YiQing Lu noted that Jooyoung had “demonstrated a level of academic rigour that is a clear sign of exhaustive exploration of our library research far beyond the standard undergraduate curriculum,” an inspiring achievement for a first‑year student. 

Sabrina Du (U3, Neuroscience) was recognized for her honours thesis, “Computational Models of the Hippocampus Drive Exploratory Behaviour in Reinforcement Learning Agents,” completed in 2025 in the Peyrache Lab at the Montreal Neurological Institute‑Hospital. Jury members highlighted the complexity and breadth of Sabrina’s research approach, particularly her ability to draw meaningfully from a wide spectrum of information sources. 

Her work was grounded in seminal texts in neurology and neuroscience that provided a strong multidisciplinary framework, while also being firmly situated within contemporary scholarship through extensive database searching and citation‑mapping techniques. This layered approach enabled her to thoughtfully position her research within both foundational and emerging conversations in the field. 

Sabrina’s supervisor, Dr. Adrien Peyrache, remarked that it is rare to see an undergraduate demonstrate such initiative, intellectual curiosity, and depth of commitment, adding that she is poised for a successful and impactful future in whichever path she chooses to pursue. 

Chidiebere Okarah (U4, Faculty of Arts) distinguished herself with her paper, “Witnessing Emmett Till: Black Counter‑Surveillance and the Reframing of American Racial Violence.” Jury members were struck by the strength and thoughtfulness of Chidiebere’s analysis, which her history professor, Dr. Blue, described as an “excellent and sobering essay about visuality, media, racial politics, and about historical and ongoing struggles for justice in the USA.” 

Chidiebere wrote this paper while participating in an exchange program in Australia, relying almost exclusively on McGill Libraries’ resources accessed remotely. Her work highlighted the critical role of the Libraries’ digital infrastructure and expertise, drawing on electronic collections and support from Rare Books and Special Collections, the Libraries’ electronic resources team, and Digital Research Services. 

In her application essay, Chidiebere reflected on how the central theme of her research – witnessing – paralleled the research process itself, noting that questions of access, documentation, and visibility carry profound political and historical weight. Her project serves as a powerful example of how library resources and librarian expertise can meaningfully support scholarship that engages with issues of social justice and collective memory. 

Emma Perkins (U3, Faculty of Arts) was recognized for her literature review, “Refugee Influxes and Urban Transformations in Amman, Jordan,” submitted as part of her honours thesis. Although unable to attend in person, Emma shared her work through a video presentation. Her advisor, Dr. Raja Sengupta, described the review as “thoroughly done and well structured,” noting its clarity and analytical strength. 

Emma’s project was notably complex and interdisciplinary, drawing on scholarship from urban studies, geography, environmental science, and Middle Eastern studies. In her application essay, she highlighted how the Libraries’ search tools, subject guides, and databases played a central role in supporting this cross‑disciplinary research. These resources enabled her to identify and connect literature across fields, helping her “move beyond individual articles toward a more cohesive understanding” of her topic. Emma described the library not simply as a repository of information, but as “an active system that shapes how knowledge is discovered and organized,” reflecting a highly sophisticated engagement with library research services.