The Banks/Harris award was established to honor the memory of Paul Banks and Carolyn Harris, two early leaders in library preservation, on behalf of the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS), a Division of the American Library Association (ALA). The award is officially called the Paul Banks and Carolyn Harris Preservation award and consists of a citation and a $1,500 grant, donated by Preservation Technologies, L.P. It is given to recognize the contribution of a professional preservation specialist who has been active in the field of preservation or conservaiton for library or archival materials. The criteria for selection of the winner are determined by the person's accomplishments as they relate to preservation leadership in such activities as:

• Leadership in professional associations at local, state, regional or national level;
• Contributions to the development, application or utilization of new or improved methods, techniques and routines;
• Evidence of studies or research in preservation;
• Significant contribution to professional literature;
• Training and mentoring in the field of preservation.

Nomination and selection of recipients

Nominations for the award are submitted to the Preservation Award Jury and one recipient is selected annually. The award is generally announced during the American Library Association's annual meeting with a reception for the honoree at the subsequent midwinter meeting.

Past recipients

• Sally Buchanan 2001 - Buchanan received the award in recognition of years of service in the preservation field while an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Information Science
• Ellen McCrady 2002 - From 1975 to 2004, McCrady edited and published the "Abbey Newsletter", covering important information for preservation professionals. She also conducted research regarding papermaking and acid testing. McCrady died in 2008.
• John F. Dean 2003 - Since its inception in 1985, Dean has led the Department of Preservation and Conservation at Cornell University.
• Jan Merrill-Oldham 2004 - As the Malloy-Rabinowitz Preservation Librarian at Harvard University, Merrill-Oldham oversees the Weissman Preservation Center and the Preservation and Imaging Department.
• Paul Conway 2005 - Conway is a professor in the University of Michigan School of Information and has worked with Yale University and Duke University after beginning his career at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. His research and educational work focuses primarily on digital preservation and electronic media.
• Gary Frost 2006 - Currently a conservator at the University of Iowa Libraries, Frost has been an educator and practitioner in the field of library preservation for over 35 years.
• Walter Henry 2007 - Henry, a conservator at the Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources, is the creator of Conservation OnLine and the Conservation DistList
• Janet Gertz 2008 - Director for Preservation, Columbia University Libraries has been chair of ALCTS' Preservation and Reformatting Section (PARS). She has taught, spoken and published widely on topics ranging from traditional library preservation, disaster preparedness, commercial binding, and preservation microfilming to digital preservation, audio preservation, preservation metadata and large-scale mass digitization. She is an adjunct faculty member in the Palmer School of Library and Information Science, Long Island University, and has been a a guest lecturer at Rutgers' Preservation Institute and at Queen's College.

External links

• Paul Banks and Carolyn Harris Preservation Award
• Preservation Technologies, L.P.: Paul Banks and Carolyn Harris Preservation Award