State honors library with excellence award

The Whitefish Community Library received the 2018 Excellent Library Service Award recently from the Montana State Library Commission. The awards were announced by the Chair of the Commission Bruce Newell of Helena on April 13 during the 106th annual Montana Library Association conference held in Bozeman.

The ELSA recognizes libraries for achieving excellence in serving their communities by exceeding the essential Montana Public Library Standards. These standards define excellence in 13 categories, nearly everything happens in Montana’s public libraries, including collection development, information access, policies, planning and evaluation, fiscal management, board accomplishments, continuing education for staff and trustees, and outreach to the community.

“The Montana State Library Commission is pleased to recognize Montana’s excellent libraries with the Excellent Library Service Award,” said Chair Newell. “Providing excellent library services in Montana is not an easy or insignificant thing. Our wide-open spaces, and too often, our steep fiscal challenges, make it difficult for libraries to provide Montanans with the resources, services, and technologies they need. Libraries receiving an ELSA have met or surmounted these challenges. The Commission congratulates ELSA-winning libraries’ trustees, library staff, and communities for their achievement and commitment to excellence.”