UNH Today

Carolyn White Gamtso, associate professor and director of the UNH Manchester Library, has been awarded the 2022 Impact Award by the New Hampshire School Library Media Association (NHSLMA). This award recognizes a non-NHSLMA member who has made a significant contribution to the promotion of school librarianship in New Hampshire.

NHSLMA cited Gamtso’s work on the Educators Partnering for Successful Student Transitions workshop, a free, online professional development opportunity geared toward high school English Language Arts educators, English learner (EL) teachers?and school library media specialists. Partnering with the UNH Manchester Library and Center for Academic Enrichment staff as well as English faculty, Gamtso’s efforts led the project to its selection as one of four winners chosen from a Dive In and Deliver funding challenge launched in 2019 by the Inclusion Council.

“Educators Partnering for Successful Student Transitions received high praise from school librarians and EL teachers,” says Kristin Whitworth, co-chair of the NHSLMA Awards Committee. “One EL teacher told me that she had never been to a [professional development] that made her feel so supported and included.”

Whitworth also noted Gamtso’s role in the partnership between NHSLMA and the New Hampshire College and University Council’s (NHCUC) Libraries Committee to plan the professional development conference From Conflict to Constructive Dialogue: Engaging in Difficult Conversations in our Libraries. The virtual conference featured speakers who provided strategies for empowering librarians to engage in productive community discussions about the profession’s role in promoting justice, equity, diversity, inclusion and intellectual freedom in library spaces.