The Graduate School of Library and Information Studies is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s awards for Library of the Year and Alumni of the Year. The Library of the Year for 2025 is the Island Free Library in New Shoreham, Rhode Island. Each year, GSLIS honors two alumni: one who graduated 10 or more years ago and another recent alumnus who graduated within the last 5-10 years. Our Alumna of the Year for 2025 is Dr. Mary Moen and our Recent Alumna of the Year for 2025 is Wendy Gustavel. These awards will be presented at the GSLIS Annual Gathering, to be held April 23, 2025 at the URI Welcome Center in Kingston, RI. The Annual Gathering is an evening of professional camaraderie and celebration that will celebrate these award winners, along with our alumni, current students, and larger community, along with a keynote speech from Dr. Lance Eaton, “Frenemies & That’s OK: Useful Tensions & Possibilities Between Libraries and AI.”

The Island Free Library is being recognized for its focus on being a robust, year-round resource and community hub in the smallest town in the smallest state. Last year, the Island Free Library coordinated and ran 399 onsite programs for audiences of all ages, attracting 4,556 participants, plus 38 offsite programs that hosted 372 additional participants. That is almost four times the number of full-time residents on the Island. Island Free Library Director Bob Farwell said, “Ours is a unique location among Rhode Island libraries and residents look to us as a multifaceted resource.” In that vein, the Island Free Library sponsors a “Free Fridge” space to store and distribute unopened foods donated by local businesses and residents, ESOL classes run by library volunteers, the Charlie Cart food literacy program designed to build a comprehensive food education program for children, formal technology classes, and many other programs and services. In 2023, Island Free Library was a finalist for the National Medal for Museum and Library Service from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. URI GSLIS commends the Island Free Library for its impressive efforts to meet the needs of its community of year-round residents and seasonal visitors.

Upon graduating from URI GSLIS in 2003, Dr. Mary Moen worked as the Library Media Specialist at Chariho Regional High School. She returned to URI to pursue a PhD in Education, graduating in 2016. During her PhD studies, Dr. Moen worked as Interim Coordinator of the School Library Media Program in URI GSLIS and Program Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services-funded Media Smart Libraries grant. In 2016, Dr. Moen became a full-time faculty member in URI GSLIS who was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2024. Dr. Moen has presented research across the globe, served as President of the School Librarians of Rhode Island, and worked tirelessly to improve the SLM program experience for students in URI GSLIS. In 2023, Dr. Moen was awarded an American Association of School Librarians Research Grant, sponsored by School Library Connection, that recognizes excellence in manuscripts addressing a persistent and recurring challenge in the field of school librarianship. URI GSLIS is proud of Mary Moen and all of her accomplishments and dedication  to her students, the School Library Media Program, and advancing school library media work across Rhode Island, the New England region, nationally, and internationally.

Wendy Gustavel graduated from URI in 2022 with an MLIS and School Library Media certification. She has worked as the Librarian and Instructional Facilitator at Rocky Hill Country Day School since 2019. In her role at Rocky Hill, Ms. Gustavel collaborates with teachers to integrate research skills across the curriculum, maintains a welcoming library space and modern, diverse collection, teaches multiple courses to upper-level students, promotes community reading engagement, among many other duties. She was a founding member of the We Are ALL Readers Book Festival committee to create a book festival focused on celebrating diverse children’s literature, brought the Rooster Games to Rocky Hill in 2023 to promote the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award nominees, and offered annual Read Across Rhode Island faculty book club opportunities to promote reading engagement among Rocky Hill faculty. Ms. Gustavel is on the RILINK Advisory Board and a member of the Rhode Island Teen Book Award Committee. She was selected to represent Rhode Island and participate in a Project Look Sharp/American Association of School Librarians professional development training for media literacy education as part of a grant funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. She took additional training to facilitate the Empowering All Learners course for Rhode Island school librarians this past year. URI GSLIS is proud of Wendy Gustavel and her tireless commitment to promoting reading engagement and literacy in Rhode Island.

GSLIS is proud of all our 2025 award winners and looks forward to celebrating with them on April 23 at our Annual Gathering.