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<span>CHICAGO—The 2012 </span><a href="http://www.ala.org/rusa/awards/referenceadultservices"><span>RUSA Gale Cengage Award for Excellence in Reference and Adult Library Services</span></a><span> winner is the Richland County (South Carolina) Public Library Job Center, an honor sponsored by Gale Cengage and the </span><a href="http://www.ala.org/rusa"><span>Reference and User Services Association (RUSA)</span></a><span>.</span></p>
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<span>The </span><a href="http://www.ala.org/rusa/awards/referenceadultservices"><span>award</span></a><span> exists to recognize and publicize an outstanding, imaginative and unique resource developed by a library to meet users’ reference needs. The Job Center’s “Employment Search Portfolio” and “Searching for a Job Online” materials provide comprehensive assistance for the entire job seeking process, and serve as a model for similar services at other libraries. </span><a href="http://www.richland.lib.sc.us/career/home"><span>Access the library’s virtual career resources and learn more about the job center at the Richland County Library website.</span></a></p>
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<span>"Public libraries serve a crucial function in helping their users find employment,” said Michael Levine-Clark, award committee chair. “The Richland County Public Library’s Job Center provides start to finish assistance, encompassing everything from the job search through the interview, setting the standard for library services everywhere.”</span></p>
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<span>The award, a citation and $3,000 cash prize, will be presented at the RUSA Awards Reception, scheduled for Sunday, June 24, 5-6:30p.m. as a part of RUSA’s events at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim. The exact location of this event will be announced in late spring. For more information, visit </span><a href="http://www.ala.org/rusa"><span>RUSA’s website</span></a><span> or the </span><a href="http://www.alaannual.org/"><span>Annual Conference website</span></a><span>.</span></p>
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<span>The Reference and User Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more about the association at </span><a href="http://www.ala.org/rusa"><span>www.ala.org/rusa</span></a><span>.</span></p>
