A Lifetime Service Award is given by the Board of Directors to retired members: who have been active ACL members at least ten of the previous fifteen years prior to the date of retirement, and who have made significant contributions to the Association, or whose contributions to the field of librarianship while a member has been a benefit to the Association.

2023 – Elizabeth Werner & Murl Winters

Elizabeth Werner

Elizabeth (Libby) Werner has been a member of ACL since 1976 and has attended 32 ACL conferences. She retired from Clearwater Christian College in 2013. Libby has served the association in a variety of ways during her time as an ACL Member. Libby’s first involvement with ACL was as a contributor to The Christian Librarian, both in the form of articles and book reviews. She has presented workshops and a poster session at conferences, along with serving on a conference planning team. Libby has also been involved with the Christian Library Consortium (CLC) team and served a term as the Liberal Arts Section secretary. Libby currently serves as a member of the ACL prayer team and is the Convener for the Retiree’s interest group.

Libby’s passion for libraries has continued to grow beyond retirement. She has mentored younger librarians, and continues to encourage ACL members through her contributions to the Reference Point devotional series, ACL prayer team, and leadership of the Retiree Interest Group.

Murl Winters

Murl Winters has been a member of ACL since 1995 and has attended 11 conferences. He retired from Evangel University in 2016 after working a total of 53 years:27 years at Southwestern Assemblies of God University Library in Texas, and 26 years in the Evangel University Library. (Central Bible College, and the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary merged with Evangel University, and all of these were in Springfield, MO.) After retiring from Evangel Library, Murl began volunteering at Global University, a few blocks down the street from Evangel until 2021.

Within ACL, Murl is mostly known for his “behind the scenes” contributions. He has written for The Christian Librarian, and served as an indexer for the Christian Periodical Index (CPI) for 27 years. While these contributions are definitely noteworthy, perhaps Murl is more commonly known for his ability to assist others with research, even after retirement, and for his ability to compile lists of quality, free resources, which he frequently shares with others via the ACL discussion list. These lists of resources are particularly valuable for small institutions with limited resources for databases, solo librarians with limited time to search for available resources, and yet still useful for libraries with larger budgets. His dedication to research and support the ACL membership is evident in his active participation and quick response to questions posed on the ACL discussion list.

Lifetime Service Award

Initiated in 2008, any member may nominate an individual for a Lifetime Service Award. A lifetime service award is given by the Board of Directors to retired members: who have been active ACL members at least ten of the previous fifteen years prior to the date of retirement, and who have made significant contributions to the Association, or whose contributions to the field of librarianship while a member has been a benefit to the Association.

Significant contributions may include, but are not limited to, regularly contributing to the Association’s publications for five or more years, presenting or leading workshops or sessions at several of the Association’s annual conferences, or serving in elected or appointed offices in the Association for five or more years.

This award consists of a gift in recognition of making significant contributions to the Association of Christian Librarians or to Christian librarianship and all benefits of full membership without the payment of dues for life.

2024 DEADLINE: March 15

SUBMIT NOMINATION

Lifetime Service Awards Recipients

2022 – Ferne Weimer
2021 – Bob Tripplet
2021 – Georgianne Bordner
2021 – Michael Bain
2020 – Jule Kind

2020 – Stephen P. Brown
2020 – Ruth Kinnersley
2018 – Dale Solberg
2017 – Doug Butler

2017 – Lynne Funtik
2017 – Jane Hopkins
2017 – Paul Roberts
2016 – Susan Watkins
2013 – Jo Ann Rhodes

2012 – Woodvall Moore
2011 – Stanford Terhune
2011 – Don Smeeton
2009 – Ray Thrasher
2008 – Steven Preston