Communications

Donald G. Davis Article Award

Carl Ostrowski is the 2002 winner of the Donald G. Davis Article Award presented by the American Library Association (ALA) Library History Round Table (LHRT). The award is presented every second year to recognize the best article written in English in the field of U.S. and Canadian library history in the previous two calendar years. Certificates are presented to the author of the article and to the periodical in which it appeared.

An assistant professor of English and a member of the graduate faculty at Middle Tennessee State University, Carl Ostrowski won the award for an article entitled "James Alfred Pearce and the Question of a National Library in Antebellum America," published in Libraries & Culture 35, no. 2 (spring 2000). Mr. Ostrowski examined the origins of the debate over a national library and the role of Maryland senator James Alfred Pearce in the resolution of the issue.

"Ostrowski investigates the political tensions surrounding the establishment of a national library," stated Marilyn J. Martin, chair of the LHRT Research Committee. "He demonstrates how legal, social, and intellectual issues influenced key decisions. His study offers fresh, new insights into the evolution of the Library of Congress as the nation's library."

The award is named for Donald G. Davis, whose contributions to the field over many years include advising many notable Ph.D. dissertations, compiling important bibliographies, coediting the Encyclopedia of Library History, authoring numerous historical articles, but most especially editing Libraries & Culture and its forerunner.

The award was presented on Sunday, June 16, 2002, at the LHRT program "History, Memory, and Preservation" during the ALA annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia.