University Libraries
Libraries Faculty Member Earns Mentoring Honor
By Katy Kelly
Heidi Gauder, professor and coordinator of research and instruction in the University Libraries, is the 2019 recipient of the Kathryn L. Venditti Mentoring Award from the Academic Library Association of Ohio (ALAO).
The Venditti Award, given annually, honors an academic librarian who has demonstrated excellence as a mentor to a librarian, a library worker or a library science student.
Support, guidance, growth
Gauder is “the type of mentor that every new librarian wishes they had,” deeply invested in helping her colleagues become better instructors, researchers, and scholars, her nominators said. Seeking tenure and promotion can be a daunting challenge for a new librarian, they wrote, yet Gauder works diligently to demystify the process, providing guidance, making connections with librarian colleagues and providing a clear example of continual achievement and growth after promotion.
Gauder has been a mentor for many members of ALAO. Katy Mathuews, ALAO’s president, shared, “She is also one of my most respected mentors.”
Another nominee noted, “I've worked at various institutions, and I genuinely have not met anyone else who so selflessly mentors others the way she does.”
Many librarians at the University of Dayton have gained knowledge and experience from her careful guidance as well. Congratulations to our colleague on this well-deserved honor.
About the Venditti Award and its namesake
The Kathryn L. Venditti Mentoring Award was established in 2016 in memory of longtime ALAO member Kathryn Venditti, an academic librarian at Ashland University who died in December 2015. A recipient of the ALAO’s Jay Ladd Distinguished Service Award winner, Venditti was a leader in the field, a loyal colleague and a supportive mentor. The ALAO Executive Board voted to establish this award in her name to honor her generous spirit, exhibited through her lifelong mentoring of new and experienced librarians.
— Katy Kelly is an associate professor and coordinator of marketing and engagement in the University of Dayton Libraries.