An all-women team of six researchers, five from The University of New Mexico College of University Librarian and Learning Sciences and their colleague at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has received the 2026 Jesse H. Shera Award for distinguished published research from the American Library Association.

The annual award recognizes a published research article that has a significant impact within the library and information field. This award is highly competitive and widely coveted, with candidates eligible only by nomination from a member of the Library Research Round Table or the editor of an American Library Association research journal.

This year, 17 jurors reviewed a strong pool of nominations and Preparing for the Worst but Hoping for the Best: Censorship, Academic Libraries, and Reconsideration Policies won.

Making this research the winner for advancing the field and providing practical applications of its findings for librarians who want to develop reconsideration policies.

Rachel E. Scott, editor of the Library Resources & Technical Services and the team's nominator, said, "The reconsideration policy template makes this a significant contribution to librarian scholarship and a very practical contribution to the profession."

The research team included Blair Solon, collection analysis librarian; Margie Montañez, curator of Latin American collections; Liz Cooper, social sciences librarian for graduate and faculty engagement; Amy Jankowski, director of learning, research, and engagement for the University Libraries; Glenn Koelling, undergraduate engagement coordinator for the University Libraries; and Laura Soito, associate dean for content and discovery, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

"We were thrilled to learn about this award," said Solon. "I feel particularly proud that something with a pragmatic impact for other libraries was recognized."

Glenn shared that "It was so unexpected; I had to check to make sure the notification wasn't a scam."

Their research started with a group of librarians wanting to understand how prepared American academic libraries are to handle book challenges, or when someone requests a book be removed from a library's collection for any reason at any time.

In recent years, schools and public libraries have received most of these requests, and many are driven by ideological or belief-based motives. Reconsideration policies are designed to guide the library's process and add continuity and equity to each request received by a library.

"These policies give us a way to describe our professional values and the nature of our work in developing library collections, but they also underscore that we value dialogue and openness with our users," Solon said.

What they found was a gap in policies in academic libraries. They decided to take on the challenge of creating a template they hoped would guide their colleagues at UNM, in New Mexico and across the country. They analyzed policies and guidance from professional organizations, such as the American Library Association and the Office of Intellectual Freedom. Making their template research-based and aligned with industry standards.

"I think this policy and others like it can open dialogue with our users and the larger UNM and New Mexico community about agency, censorship and intellectual freedom," said Montañez.

Academic libraries have not seen as many book challenges and operate in a different environment than schools and public libraries, but this research serves as inspiration for other academic libraries to adopt a policy in their own contexts. This team of researchers believes that stronger policies can uplift all libraries.

With March being Women's History Month, this team's recognition is even more meaningful. Women at UNM and around the nation are impacting their fields, professions and communities every day.

To learn more about each researcher, visit their faculty webpages.

• Blair Solon
• Margie Montanez
• Liz Cooper
• Amy Jankowski
• Glenn Koelling
• Laura Soito