LHRT’s Donald G. Davis Article Award Committee is making this final call for nominations for the 2026 Davis Award. All nominations, which must include a brief statement of recommendation and a digital copy of the article, should be e-mailed to Bernadette A. Lear (BAL19@psu.edu), the Davis Committee Chair, by 5:00 p.m. EST on Friday, January 16th, 2026. Late nominations will not be considered. 

The Davis Award is given every even-numbered year to recognize the best article written in English in the field of United States and Canadian library history. The award honors Donald G. Davis (1939-2024), longtime professor at the University of Texas School of Information and editor of Libraries & Culture (a predecessor of today’s Information & Culture).

After consulting with LHRT officers, the 2026 Davis Committee has determined that “library” history may be interpreted to include papers on archives/manuscript libraries, book history connected to libraries, and libraries in museums and other settings. It may also include biographies of librarians, library workers, and library advocates, and historical developments in librarianship, as well as the history of library institutions. Also, “article” may include book chapters. 

Entries are judged on quality of scholarship, clarity of style, and depth of research. LHRT is particularly interested in submissions that place their subjects within broader historical, social, cultural, and political contexts and make interdisciplinary connections with print culture and information studies. Articles must have been published between January 1 and December 31 of the two years preceding the award year (January 1, 2024-December 31, 2025).

Please send your nominations right away! We look forward to hearing from you. 

*****

Bernadette A. Lear (she/her/Ms.)

*On sabbatical 11/1/2025-6/30/2026*

Education, Behavioral Sciences, and Social Sciences Librarian

Penn State University Libraries

BAL19@psu.edu | 717-948-6360

Renowned library historian Peter Johan Lor, former Director of the State Library in Pretoria, first National Librarian and Chief Executive Officer of the National Library of South Africa, and former Secretary General of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, shares a recent compilation of biographies and primary sources!:

Click to access published-articles-about-ifla-personalities-2025-12-16.pdf

WHEN/WHERE: Fri, 01/09/2026 12:00 PM CT/1:00 PM ET. Zoom presentation free and open to all. Preregistration required via website.

Would you like to attend? Click here to register.

Excerpt from the Registration Description: “Tell the truth. When you get a look at someone’s library, you do more than consider the shelving units and bookends. You take a careful look at the books themselves. Just what does this person read? Collect? Display?

Now our guest, Jeremy Dibbell is going to nudge H.G. Wells aside, commandeer The Time Machine and take us into a fascinating journey through the American past to consider the libraries of the early colonial period through 1800.”

—Organized by the Caxton Club