 So, welcome to our International Relations Roundtable International Librarian's Reception. We are very happy to have you here. It has been an amazing conference in San Francisco so far, I will say. I watched part of the parade yesterday, and the joy at the parade yesterday was wonderful. I really enjoyed it. We've had some amazing weather, I know. So, thanks Louise for the San Francisco weather. No, but really, we are here to celebrate our International Librarians, and that is you. So, thank you for coming. And this would not be possible without the work of so many people, this event. I would like to thank Athena, Michael, and the Reception Committee. I would like to thank Deline Guerra and Michael Dowling of the ALA International Relations Office. And of course, Luis Herrera and many of the San Francisco Public Library staff, Tony and Michael. I'd like to give a welcome to our distinguished guest tonight. We have library commissioners with us, Zoe Dunning, Dr. Mary Wardell, Giro Duzzi, and John Lee. It's John Lee here. I'd like to thank the friends of the San Francisco Public Library for their generous support and sponsorship, including the Board President, Mikiko Huang, and Acting Executive Director, Deborah Doyle. Our special guests as well, Ivan Pazin, Vice Council General of the Russian Federation, and his wife Anna Pazin, Dr. K. J. Shirinivasa, Deputy Council General of India, and last but not least, Tibusé Lugo, Acting General Counsel of Venezuela. We are of course so pleased to have Courtney Young here, our ALA President tonight. She is a huge supporter of IRRT, and she herself is a member. So we may be calling on her in future years. Athena will introduce her further and the awards that she's going to be giving out. So this event is really a culmination of all of the IRRT activities at annual. And for me personally, it's the culmination of a year of being Chair of the Roundtable, but also my 10 years of involvement in the Roundtable. So I thank everyone for their support in this room that I know has done good work for international librarianship. So welcome again, finally, enjoy, and please spark new connections. That is why we do this, okay? So Athena? Good evening. On behalf of the IRRT Reception Committee, I warmly welcome you to this evening's award event to celebrate the ALA Presidential Citations for Innovative Library Projects for 2015. This prestigious award was spearheaded under the direction of Dr. Lorraine Roy, ALA President in 2007-2008. In addition to this award, the Humphrey Award supported by John Ames Humphrey OCLC Forest Press and the Bogle Pratt International Library Travel Fund will be presented this evening. These awards reflect IRRT's steadfast mission to promote interest in library issues and librarianship worldwide. I would like to begin by acknowledging the following librarians who have contributed to ensuring the success of this event. First, City Librarian Luis Herrera, who without hesitation graciously offered this spectacular venue, as well as the creative idea to partner with ALA's caucuses and Deputy City Librarian Michael Lambert and Special Projects Manager Tony Bernardi for shepherding the reception process with great attention to detail. Also the numerous staff members of the San Francisco Public Library, including the Affinity Center staff and performers. This collaboration is a testament to Mr. Herrera's extraordinary leadership. Second, ALA Program Officer Delynn Guerrera, IRRT Chair Robin Keer. John Hickock, Vice Chair-Chair-Elect, and Joan Weeks, former IRRT Chair. Your endless support throughout the process was invaluable. Finally, a heartfelt thanks to an extraordinary IRRT reception committee. Paul Coleman, Carla Ellard, Hannah Farmer, Lisa Hitchcliffe, Ramana Ristova, Dr. Yang, Liana Giuliano, Emery Ortiz, Emma Roblow, and Cindy Singer. Please give a second round of applause to them for their dedication to our profession. And now it is a great honor to begin the awards for the ALA Presidential Citations for Innovation Library Projects for 2015. The recipients were selected by a team of IRRT members in consultation with ALA President Courtney L. Young, a member of IRRT, and a strong supporter of our Midwinter Program. And yes too, we all welcome you for next year to help us. Please welcome President Young as she presents the awards. Good evening. It's an honor to be here with you. And it's been wonderful to meet a number of you at some international conferences. Number of, met some of you at IFLA. I've actually come to some of your countries and met you there in your libraries. And it's a pleasure to welcome you here to this conference and to continue the conversations and building those relationships, as Robin has already told us that we must do. But for now it is my pleasure to present these awards. The American Library Association presents this Presidential Citation for Ininnovative International Library Projects to the Establishment of Taiwan Resource Global Promotion of Chinese Studies of the Center for Chinese Studies National Central Library, Taiwan ROC. For establishing the Taiwan Resource Center for Chinese Studies that provides a point-to-point customized service model for the library community, for sharing academic resources globally in the field of Chinese Studies, and for promoting international exchange and cultural understanding between Chinese Studies institutions and libraries worldwide and in supporting the Chinese teaching and research programs. The American Library Association presents this Presidential Citation for Innovative International Library Projects to the Outreach Worker Service and to Digital Library as a core service in the Edmonton Public Library, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. For initiating the Outreach Worker Service that plays social workers in the main library and branch locations to transform community needs and to deliver traditional library service to at-risk individuals. And for championing digital literacy as a core library service and providing staff with training and support to build their digital literacy skills including establishing digital makerspace environments. The American Library Association presents this Presidential Citation for Innovative International Library Projects to the Science and Technology, Academic and Research-Based, Openly Operated Kiosk Station, Starbucks, Projects Science and Technology Information Institute of the Department of Science and Technology, Philippines. For promoting science and technology information in the Philippines through the establishment of the Science and Technology, Academic and Research-Based, Openly Operated Kiosk Station, Starbucks Information Access Portals. And for making science and technology materials from the Science and Technology Information Institute Library available to the general public, particularly in those remote areas that have few information materials, no libraries, and little to no internet connectivity. The American Library Association presents this Presidential Citation for Innovative International Library Projects to the National Library Board Mobile Application Project. National Library Board, Singapore, for expanding the utility of mobile communication devices and library security systems through clever programming and adaptation. For providing library patrons with a personalized, contextualized book-brawing experience that seamlessly integrates physical resources and digital services. Thank you, Courtney. And congratulations, again, to all the winners. On a personal note, I am thrilled to welcome Committee Chair Tess Tovan, who will be presenting the Humphrey Award to Jane Miranda, the founder of the Hester J. Hodgin Libraries for all programs. I had the opportunity to witness firsthand Jane's pioneering spirit to foster sustainable librarianship in Central America while working with her to develop training programs in 2005 and 2007. Tess? Many of you in the audience do know Jane, and you're very familiar with her work throughout Central America, so I'm very delighted to present this award to her today. It's the John Ames Humphrey OCLC Forest Press Award. It's presented to Jane Mirandette in recognition of significant contributions to international librarianship by the American Library Association International Relations Committee. Please welcome Committee Chair Dorothy Terry for the Bogle Pratt International Library Travel Fund. My name is Sally Zhang. I'm the chairperson of LA International Relations Committee's Bogle Pratt International Library Travel Grant. This year, Dorothy is the recipient this year. This year we are very pleased to present this travel grant $1,000 cash to Dorothy Terry for her first international conference. Dorothy is an instructional and digital initiative librarian at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. The Bogle Memorial Fund and Pratt Institute School Library Information Science will provide $1,000 cash for her to attend her first international conference, Cape Town, South Africa. This award is a recognition of Sarah Comley-Norris Bogle, a prominent U.S. librarian who made a notable contribution to children's librarianship, international library services, and library education. Thank you. Dorothy is not here tonight, but we'll be sure to make a mail check to her, so she will attend her conference. Thank you. And this evening's presentations will conclude with an update on the current status of IRT's Endowment Campaign by IRT Endowment Committee members Jeanette Pierce, Susan Schnurr, and Charlie Zhang. Good evening. Charlie and Susan, and I are so glad to be here with all of you this evening. And as many of you know, we are all long-term members and fans of IRT, and we're not going to tell you how long. So we're also all former chairs of IRT. And as such, we know a lot about the enthusiasm and the dedication of IRT members for creating opportunities for all of us to participate in the global advancement of the profession by connecting with our colleagues from around the world. As we approached IRT's 60th anniversary in 2009, we were really excited to announce that Jordan Skopansky and Lee Wells would lead an effort to create an IRRT, an endowment for ALA. That successful campaign raised over $25,000, and the endowment has now grown to around $34,000. However, as some of you may be aware, ALA has set a new minimum for endowments, and we need to reach $50,000 for our endowment to become a permanent asset for IRRT. To raise additional funds, we have a new IRRT Global Leaders Campaign. Many of you saw our flash kickoff letter sent prior to this conference, and 18 of us responded by helping to raise almost $3,500 in just a few weeks. So thank you to everybody who contributed to that campaign, and who has contributed to the IRRT endowment campaign in the past. And we hope that many of you will consider contributing to the endowment sometime later this year. Small and large amounts are more than welcome, and they all make a big difference for that. If you wish to make a donation this evening, you, of course, may see any of us, or Dylene, and we'll be happy to talk with you. So thank you all for being here at the conference, for contributing your global perspective to the 2015 ALA annual conference, and we wish you all a very wonderful evening and great travels home. Okay. Thank you all for your attention. This concludes our short presentation tonight, so please enjoy. Have a drink, enjoy the library some more, and thank you for coming.