Librarian Award Recipients

The Librarian Award recognizes demonstrated excellence in professional service to the unit, the University and/or the community.

Award recipient(s) will receive a certificate of recognition and a monetary award of $2,000 as a one-time payment (subject to applicable deductions).

Key criteria: Service

2025 recipients

Kevin Manuel

TMU Libraries

Kevin Manuel brings professionalism, expertise and a deep commitment to social justice to his role as TMU's Data Librarian. As the university's official representative to Statistics Canada's Data Liberation Initiative, Kevin provides specialist data support for TMU researchers, locating and retrieving data across disciplines. His leadership was instrumental in establishing the Libraries' Statistical Consulting Service. In addition to founding the Libraries' Social Justice Collective, Kevin chairs an international effort to create an online LGBTQ+ Data Guide, and has co-authored a Canadian open access anti-racist data guide, which has prompted the data community to examine issues of EDI in data collection.

May Yan

TMU Libraries

May Yan's exceptional leadership as the Omni Project Implementation Lead makes her highly deserving of this year's Librarian Award. She coordinated a team of six librarians, sponsored by an associate dean, to successfully implement a new library management system which integrates TMU with 18 Ontario libraries. May's strategic planning, communication skills, and profound understanding of library systems were instrumental in facilitating communication, managing project risks, and ensuring cohesive system configuration. May's extensive project leadership experience, transparent approach, and knowledge led to the successful transition to Omni. She adeptly managed stakeholder communication, ensuring all parties were informed and engaged.