Celebrating the inaugural Friends of the Libraries Student Awards

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On Monday, April 28, students, library staff, and Friends of the McGill Libraries members gathered together in celebration of the inaugural Friends of the Libraries Student Library Award winners.

The awards were generously supported by the Friends of the Libraries and were established to promote the use of library services and information resources in undergraduate projects. They were presented to undergraduate students who best demonstrated their use of library services and resources in the creation of a research project, lab report, critically appraised topic, creative work or other coursework and who demonstrated an excellent understanding of the connection between their research and these library services and resources.

Fast facts:

•  A total of 20 submissions were received: 11 in Humanities, Social Sciences, Music, Law, and Management; and nine in Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, and Engineering, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
• Project formats consisted of 12 research papers (including two honours projects), three videos (two music videos and one short film), four pamphlets, and one blog post.
• Essay formats included four video essays and 16 written essays.
• The following subject areas were represented: English, French, Art History, Music, Anthropology, Geography, Agriculture and Environmental Science, Nursing, Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies, and Computer Science.

The awards celebration was moderated by Guylaine Beaudry, Trenholme Dean of Libraries and began with remarks by Katherine Hanz, Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning, who welcomed everyone and marveled at the quality of the submissions received from students in all years of study – from those writing their very first research paper to those completing an honours thesis. Applicants wrote about using library spaces and library equipment as well as special collections (rare books, manuscripts, and artworks from the Visual Art Collection) as well as electronic resources and databases.

They also highlighted their interactions with librarians and library staff and how attending library workshops, meeting with librarians for one-on-one research support, and the use of LibGuides left them feeling more confident and efficient in their approach to research.

The ceremony continued with Sabine Calleja, Liaison Librarian for Nursing, Palliative Care presented the awards to the two winners from the Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, and Engineering, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences:

• Sara-Alba Gonzalez Pepe, U2, Ingram School of Nursing; Project Title: What you Need to Know about AUVELITY.
• Michael Yu, U2,Department of Geography; Project Title: WXImpactBench: A Disruptive Weather Impact Understanding Benchmark for Evaluating Large Language Models.

Each winner was invited to share a short presentation on their research. Sara-Alba presented in-person and Michael joined us via video presentation.

Next, Michael David Miller, Liaison Librarian for French Literature; Economics; International Development; Public Policy; Quebec Studies; Translation Studies; and Women’s, Feminist, Gender & LGBTQ+ Studies presented the awards to the two winners from the Humanities, Social Sciences, Music, Law, and Management disciplines:

• Céleste Pepin, U4, Gender, Sexuality, Feminist and Social Justice Studies; Project Title:  White Women at War: Understanding the Role of White Womanhood in Canada’s Military Occupation of Iraq.
• Julia Couture, U1, Langue et littérature françaises; Project Title: Quand le lecteur devient captif du récit : La forme cyclique de Petites Cendres ou la capture comme métaphore de l’invasion de la souffrance.

Unfortunately Céleste was unable to attend the ceremony but was celebrated in absentia. Julia presented in-person.

Dean Beaudry concluded the ceremony by congratulating the winners. She thanked all applicants, the Friends of the Libraries, including the members instrumental to the rollout of the award, Jonathan, Crago, Stephanie Taylor, and Lenore Harris. She also made mention of librarians Hye-jin Juhn, Jill Boruff, and Katherine Hanz, who worked hard to bring the award to life, as well as Sabine Calleja and Michael David Miller for their roles in the ceremony.

We thank all our applicants and congratulate this year’s recipients!