SC&I alumna Radwa Ali, ’11, director of Roxbury Public Library in Succasunna, NJ, has been named the recipient of the American Library Association’s 2020 Gale, A Cengage Company Financial Development Award. According to the ALA website, the award is “presented to a library organization to recognize innovative, creative, well-organized project which successfully developed income from alternative sources.” Ali was recognized for her project “Mini-Golf in the Library.”

“Roxbury Library is the real winner,” said Ali.  “We’ll likely use the funds to finance something not achievable within our 2021 operating budget.” Ali explained her priorities are financial sustainability and building/maintaining relationships with the community.

As the award recipient, Ali will receive $2,500 and 24-karat gold-framed citation. Ali said the Roxbury Public Library will be celebrating their 60th anniversary in 2021, and she might use the award funding to host a gala or other major fundraiser, to provide the library with an opportunity to further grow its funding.

Ali attended Rutgers as both an undergraduate and as a graduate student. In 2009 she graduated with a bachelor’s degree, majoring in Political Science and Information Technology and Informatics at SC&I, and then she earned her MLIS (now known as the the Master of Information) from SC&I in 2011, with a focus on Library Science and Informatics.

“SC&I helped me become a librarian. Spend a single day as a public library director and you’ll know immediately how critical community support, advocacy, and financial support is,” said Ali. “This award recognizes that work, but it’s just one of a thousand ways libraries everyday engage with their constituents for the betterment of the community.”

More information about the Information Technology and Informatics major and the Master of Information at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information is on the website. 

Image: Courtesy of Radwa Ali ’11