Anna Shparberg, Rice University's subject librarian for world history, religion, Asian studies and linguistics, was recognized as the 2024 Shapiro Library Staff Innovation Award winner Sept. 10.
The purpose of the Shapiro Award is to recognize a member of the Fondren Library staff who has developed an innovative program to provide library services at Rice or has shown exemplary service to the University community. The award comes from an endowed fund created by the estate of former University Librarian Beth Shapiro, who was renowned for encouraging staff development and investing in electronic resources and other innovative technologies during her years of service.
“It is a great honor for me to have been selected as this year's Shapiro Award recipient. Rice University is renowned for the excellence of its faculty, and our robust library collections are there to support their research and teaching,” Shparberg said. “I have felt very fortunate to be able to contribute to the growth and development of these collections, with unparalleled support from Fondren Library's administration and our wonderful community of library professionals.”
A graduate of Tartu University and Indiana University (Bloomington), Shparberg has worked at Rice since 2005.
Shparberg has collaborated with several Rice faculty members on creating and expanding library collections in a number of areas. This includes her work on helping build a research-level collection on Brazilian studies, and on materials relating to anomalous experiences and the paranormal. Currently, Shparberg's main focus is strengthening Fondren Library collection's holdings on East and South Asia to meet the needs of the growing Department of Transnational Asian Studies.
Cindy Pierard, assistant university librarian for research services, introduced Shparberg to accept her award at the ceremony, highlighting many thoughts and praises of Shparberg from many Fondren stakeholders and representatives.
“The comments that I have shared today reveal some of the many ways that Anna Shparberg is leaving her own indelible mark as humanities librarian extraordinaire,” Pierard said. “We see this in her dedication to building outstanding collections, her thoughtful and active support of many scholarly projects and her passion for bringing people and collections together to spark curiosity and inspire new knowledge. Thank you, Anna, for your outstanding and enduring work.”