Akina and Yamamoto Win LIS Blair Awards

Johanna (Hana) Akina and Jenny Yamamoto are the fall 2013 recipients of the Robert and Rita Blair Memorial Award. This coveted award is presented to graduating students who show special promise in providing library services to children and youth. The LIS faculty select the awardees based on high academic standing and strong evidence of professional leadership.

Hana has served as vice president of the ALA Student Chapter, leader of the LIS Web Team, and secretary of Hui Dui, the LIS student organization. In addition, she has volunteered at Kahuku Public and School Library and tutored high school athletes at Kahuku High and Intermediate. She will be working as the librarian at Aiea Elementary for the spring 2014 term.

Jenny is currently a teacher librarian at Leilehua High School. She has served as the school’s Senior Project Coordinator and is actively working on collaborative partnerships between the school and Wahiawa Public Library. As part of her senior project work, she was invited to join a team of presenters at the 2012 Schools of the Future Conference. She shared the exemplary work being done at Leilehua on Project PEARL, a collaborative initiative to improve students’ research skills. Jenny plans to continue her work in the Leilehua school library after graduation.