{"id":20536,"date":"2025-01-22T09:08:46","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T14:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/?p=20536"},"modified":"2025-01-22T09:08:47","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T14:08:47","slug":"ut-libraries-receives-lead-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/ut-libraries-receives-lead-award\/","title":{"rendered":"UT Libraries Receives LEAD Award"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>(Knoxville, Tennessee. January 22, 2025) \u2014 The University of Tennessee Libraries has received the 2025 Library Excellence in Access and Diversity (LEAD) Award from <em>Insight Into Diversity <\/em>magazine, the largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The LEAD Award honors academic libraries\u2019 programs and initiatives that encourage and support inclusive excellence and belonging across their campus. UT Libraries will be featured, along with 35 other recipients, in the March 2025 issue of <em>Insight Into Diversity<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cUT Libraries is honored to receive this recognition,\u201d said Dean of Libraries Steve Smith.&nbsp; \u201cAnd we\u2019re proud of our efforts \u2014 over many years \u2014 to foster a sense of community and freedom of inquiry on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/104\/files\/2025\/01\/VRheadset-1.jpg\" alt=\"Student tries out a virtual reality headset at the 2023 Big Orange STEM Saturday.\" class=\"wp-image-20534\" width=\"450\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/104\/files\/2025\/01\/VRheadset-1.jpg 900w, https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/104\/files\/2025\/01\/VRheadset-1-300x250.jpg 300w, https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/104\/files\/2025\/01\/VRheadset-1-768x640.jpg 768w, https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/104\/files\/2025\/01\/VRheadset-1-239x199.jpg 239w, https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/104\/files\/2025\/01\/VRheadset-1-521x434.jpg 521w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><figcaption>Student tries out a virtual reality headset at the 2023 Big Orange STEM Saturday.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Assistant Dean Thura Mack, who leads UT Libraries\u2019 belonging and engagement initiatives, noted some of the programs that won recognition from <em>Insight Into Diversity<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur annual Big Orange STEM Saturday brings area high school students to the library to learn about STEM careers and to expose them to university life. Most of these students from underrepresented communities would be the first in their families to attend college.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She added: \u201cThe Libraries sponsors events that highlight different cultures or facilitate conversations on difficult topics. Our collection development policies bring visibility to underrepresented voices. And by providing assistive technologies and negotiating with publishers of electronic resources, UT Libraries assures that our resources remain accessible to students with disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/104\/files\/2025\/01\/EngStudents-1.jpg\" alt=\"Current UT engineering students pose at the 2023 Big Orange STEM Saturday.\" class=\"wp-image-20535\" width=\"450\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/104\/files\/2025\/01\/EngStudents-1.jpg 900w, https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/104\/files\/2025\/01\/EngStudents-1-300x250.jpg 300w, https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/104\/files\/2025\/01\/EngStudents-1-768x640.jpg 768w, https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/104\/files\/2025\/01\/EngStudents-1-239x199.jpg 239w, https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/104\/files\/2025\/01\/EngStudents-1-521x434.jpg 521w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><figcaption>Current UT engineering students joined the 2023 Big Orange STEM Saturday to network with visiting high school students.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Tyvi Small, UT\u2019s vice chancellor for access and engagement, praised the Libraries\u2019 engagement and outreach strategies, saying \u201cThe library is helping us build a stronger, more accessible, more community-engaged university where everyone feels valued and respected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Insight Into Diversity<\/em> magazine is the leader in recognizing inclusive excellence in higher education through its many prestigious awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe know that many academic libraries are not always recognized for their dedication to diversity, inclusion, and access\u201d said Lenore Pearlstein, owner and publisher of <em>Insight Into Diversity<\/em>. \u201cWe are proud to honor these college and university libraries as role models for other institutions of higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information about the 2025 Library Excellence in Access and Diversity (LEAD) Award, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insightintodiversity.com\/\"><em>insightintodiversity.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Knoxville, Tennessee. January 22, 2025) \u2014 The University of Tennessee Libraries has received the 2025 Library Excellence in Access and Diversity (LEAD) Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine, the largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education. The LEAD Award honors academic libraries\u2019 programs and initiatives that encourage and support inclusive excellence and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/ut-libraries-receives-lead-award\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v14.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>UT Libraries Receives LEAD Award - News - News from the University of Tennessee Knoxville Libraries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/old.lib.utk.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/ut-libraries-receives-lead-award\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UT Libraries Receives LEAD Award - News - News from the University of Tennessee Knoxville Libraries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Knoxville, Tennessee. January 22, 2025) \u2014 The University of Tennessee Libraries has received the 2025 Library Excellence in Access and Diversity (LEAD) Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine, the largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education. 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