David J. Kelsey has been awarded this year’s RUSA Francis Joseph Campbell Award. Mr. Kelsey has provided outstanding contributions in the advancement of library services for people with physical disabilities, with a special focus on seniors with challenges. He enthusiastically promotes Talking Books and other dynamic services, providing hope and care to library users and communities.
David Kelsey has sought to provide exemplary services to library patrons, specializing on outreach to seniors with physical and cognitive challenges. He promotes engagement, enrichment and develops creative programming for seniors. He strives to ensure that his public library’s resources are available to seniors and those with physical disabilities.
Amongst the variety of his activities are:
David’s outreach team presents weekly, biweekly, and monthly programming at nine skilled care, memory care, assisted living, and retirement facilities, engaging three hundred seniors monthly; establish groups for Reaching Across Illinois Library System, System Wide Automated Network and Library Integrated Network Consortium; and promotes the Talking Books program.
David promoted a pilot program with the Illinois State Library to incorporate the use of Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) software in skilled care facilities and during his time in Outreach Services, the number of homebound patrons served by the St. Charles Public Library (SCPL) has grown by 350%.
He co-founded the Reaching Across Illinois Library System’s (RAILS) serving patrons with Dementia Group, a system-wide networking group for librarians who serve patrons with Alzheimer’s disease.
The selection committee was Chaired by Adria P. Olmi. The Francis Joseph Campbell Award was previously awarded by ASGCLA. This is the first year it is being awarded by RUSA.