Sohair Wastawy, dean of libraries at Illinois State University, has been honored with an Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) International Relations Committee Special Recognition Award for leadership. Wastawy received the award at the American Library Association conference in Washington, D.C., on June 26.
Wastawy received the award for her distinguished leadership and outstanding contributions to international librarianship through her work with academic and research libraries in the U.S. and the Middle East. Prior to becoming dean of libraries at Illinois State on June 1, Wastawy was chief librarian at the Bibliotheca Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt.
During her tenure at Bibliotheca Alexandria, Wastawy trained over 100 new librarians on modern librarianship practice, established two professional development programs to address the shortage of library education in Egypt, and combined five major specialized libraries into one library institution.
Wastawy is a preservation and access advisory board member of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and serves on the professional development standing committee. She is a board member for the International Association of Technical University Libraries and executive committee member of the European Commission Network of Excellence, RAMSES2. Wastawy has been honored with the IFLA’s High-Level Colloquium on Information Literacy and Lifelong Learning medallion and with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Egyptian Library Association. She was a Fulbright Scholar and received a Peace Fellowship.
