Rachel Drake and Molly Higgins Named Winners of the 2025 RUSA Federal Achievement Award
Two U.S. Government Librarians Honored with 2025 RUSA Federal Achievement Award
The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) is recognizing two mid-career U.S. government librarians with its Federal Achievement Award in 2025: Rachel Drake of the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) and Molly Higgins of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The Federal Achievement Award recognizes individuals for achievement in the promotion of library and information service and the information profession in the Federal community. It has been administered by RUSA since the Federal and Armed Forces Libraries Interest Group (FAFLIG) joined RUSA in 2020.
The Federal Achievement Award was created by the Federal Librarians Round Table, which merged with the Armed Forces Libraries Round Table in 2001 to form the Federal and Armed Forces Libraries Round Table (FAFLRT). FAFLRT merged in 2018 with the Association of Specialized Government and Cooperative Library Agencies and established two separate interest groups (the Federal Libraries Interest Group and the Armed Forces Libraries Interest Group), which merged in 2020 to form the Federal and Armed Forces Libraries Interest Group (FAFLIG). When ASGCLA was dissolved later that year, FAFLIG moved to the Reference and User Services Association as an interest group.
Recent winners of the Federal Achievement Award include Paula Laurita of the U.S. Army Materiel Command Headquarters; D. Lynne Rickard of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC); and Michelle A. Ortiz of the Vicenza and Del Din Library, U.S. Army Garrison Italy.
“I’m proud to have dedicated my career to serving those who serve. Our military libraries have become more than a collection of books—it’s a mission-critical resource that supports, empowers, and stands alongside every military community member, providing knowledge, comfort, and connection when they need it most. I’m happy to be a part of this important process, contributing to the strength and resilience of those who defend our nation.” – Rachel Drake
“Thank you for this award. I’m so proud of my team and the work we do— ensuring that Federal nutrition policy is supported by replicable and evidence based science.” – Molly Higgins
Rachel Drake is currently branch manager of the Shadow Mountain Branch Library, aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms in California. She started working as a library technician at Fort Bliss in Texas in 2012 before earning her MLIS in 2014 from the University of North Texas. She was then branch manager for one of the two Fort Bliss branch libraries before becoming supervisory librarian for the installation’s library system as a whole. She was then supervisory librarian at a USMC base library in Japan and a U.S. Army post library in Germany, before taking her current role. Among other things, she developed the first dedicated makerspace in an Army MWR library, which then was the model for a Department of Defense-wide initiative.
“While there are many exceptional military librarians, the scope and reach of Ms. Drake dwarfs that of her peers,” wrote Michael Steinmacher, former FAFLIG chair, in a letter of support for her nomination.
Molly Higgins is currently a Systematic Review Librarian for the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. She earned her MLIS in 2013 from the University of Washington, and worked in academic libraries from 2011 to 2016 before becoming Digital Services Librarian at the Congressional Research Service (CRS) in 2017. She worked at CRS, which is part of the Library of Congress, until 2021, when she joined USDA – initially as a federal contractor. Among other things, she was the lead librarian on a series of systematic reviews to support proposed revisions to the federal government’s dietary guidelines.
“Molly has demonstrated a commitment to promoting library and information science in Federal settings and has made important contributions to the Federal information profession that have had meaningful impacts for a broad range of interest holders – from fellow library and information scientists, to members of Congress and their staffs, to public health nutrition scientists – ultimately making a true differences in the lives of Americans,” wrote Julie Obbagy, Higgins’s supervisor, in a letter nominating her for the award.
Ben Leubsdorf (ben.leubsdorf@gmail.com) is FAFLIG’s representative on the RUSA Achievement Awards and Grants Committee.