W. Kaye Lamb Award for Service to Seniors

William Kaye Lamb portrait about 1948. Credit Canadian Library Association.

Sponsored by the Ex Libris Association (ELA) and the Canadian Federation of Library Associations / Fédération canadienne des associations de bibliothèques (CFLA/FCAB).

This award is given in honour of William Kaye Lamb (1904–1999) the first National Librarian of Canada from 1953–1968. Dr. Lamb was also the Dominion Archivist from 1948–1969 and an eminent scholar who published books and articles on Canadian history. He was invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada in October 1969.

There are biographies for W. Kaye Lamb at Wikipedia and the Ex Libris biography.

The portrait shows William Kaye Lamb when he was President of the Canadian Library Association/Association canadienne des bibliothèques in 1947–1948.

This award recognizes a library that has developed an ongoing service, program, or procedure of benefit to seniors and/or a design and organization of buildings or facilities that improve access and encourage use by seniors. The award will be presented biennially when merited.

Any Canadian public, postsecondary, or special library is eligible for this award.

Completed applications must be submitted by November 6, 2025. Use the subject line “W. Kaye Lamb Award Application 2025” including your library name or acronym to exlibrisaward@gmail.com (select or right click to copy email address).

Please provide:

1. Name of the library and address.
2. Library contact person name, position and contact details (email, telephone, fax, etc.).
3. A statement of the service or facility of benefit to the senior population served by the library.
4. Descriptive material, such as photographs, promotional or advertising materials used, articles or news items published may be included with the application to indicate the ongoing success of the project.
5. The application might include architectural drawings, details of the equipment used, and an outline of the effect on staffing and budget
6. If submitting “notification of the intention to appply,” include as much descriptive information as possible by the dedline with the subject line “W. Kaye Lamb Award intention to submit 2025.”
7. Submit completed applications with the subject line “W. Kaye Lamb Award Application 2025” to exlibrisaward@gmail.com (select or right click to copy email address).
8. Use the above email to request further information about the award or application process, adding “inquiry” to the subject line.

A committee of Ex Libris members review the submissions and make a recommendation for approval. The winner(s) will also be announced in ELAN (the Ex Libris Association Newsletter), listservs, the ELA and CFLA/FCAB websites, and social media.

A representative from Ex Libris will present a suitably mounted framed certificate and a monetary award of $500.

Information regarding the award is also available at the CanadianFederation of Library Associations / Fédération canadienne des associations de bibliothèques website at: https://cfla-fcab.ca/en/programs/w-kaye-lamb-award/ .

A list of past winning awards can be accessed at this link.