New Orleans librarian wins Lemony Snicket award

            I'm a writer so I'm a stickler for not stealing other people's work. But Shelf Awareness reported on the American Library Association today and mentioned that Laurence Copel (shown here seated on the right) won the inaugural Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced with Adversity. She received $3,000, $1,000 in travel expenses, a certificate and "an odd object from Handlers's private collection" designed by New Orleans' own Mo Willems. (The Lemony Snicket books are written by Snicket which is actually author Daniel Handler.)

            Copel won the honors at the recent ALA’s Newbery Caldecott Banquet.

            Copel owns Jude Grove's Free Library in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. According to Shelf Awareness, "Copel moved from New York City to New Orleans in 2010 and opened a library in her home using her own money and some small donations." 

            Here’s where I do the stealing. I’m borrowing their photo (although I doubt they will mind since I'm linking them throughout). From left are Dora Ho, Los Angeles Public Library; Snicket; Nanette Perez, ALA's Intellectual Freedom office; Eric Suess, chair of the committee and director at Marshall Public Library in Pocatello, Idaho; Copel's son Kazumi Yamazoli; Copel; Julius C. Jefferson Jr., Library of Congress; and Barbara Jones,ALA's Intellectual Freedom office.

            If you’re not familiar with Shelf Awareness, it’s a great web site and newsletter spotlighting independent bookstores, authors and books.