Stoughton Public Library Director Ramsey Wins State Award | Community

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Stoughton Public Library Director Jim Ramsey was one of two people honored last month as recipients of the 2021 President’s Volunteer Award by the Wisconsin Library Association (WLA).

According to a WLA press release, Ramsey and Ripon Public Library Director Desiree Bongers won the annual recognition, awarded to members of the association who have “demonstrated outstanding volunteer service.” Both were honored at the WLA’s annual conference in Green Bay last month.

WLA President Sherry Machones praised Ramsey’s professionalism as a volunteer organizer of the association’s annual Legislative Day event. Since 2017, he has coordinated appointments between 132 lawmakers and more than 100 of their constituents representing public libraries across the state.

She said this complex effort became an even greater challenge in 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the WLA to move the event to a virtual platform.

“Desiree and Jim have each given their time and professional expertise so selflessly that they quickly rose to the top of the list this year,” Machones said in the press release. “I am proud to work with them.

In an email to the Hub last week, Ramsey wrote that he was particularly recognized for his role on the WLA Library Development and Legislation Committee.

“Over the past few years, I have enjoyed connecting with lawmakers across the state and explaining the importance of public libraries in our communities,” he wrote. “Wisconsin’s public libraries are funded directly by counties and municipalities, but funding for state library systems, the consortia that support local libraries, comes from the state budget. And that has been our goal for the past several years – to help lawmakers understand the importance of these systems in providing library services to everyone in Wisconsin. “

Contact journalist Scott De Laruelle @ sdelaruelle @ wisconsinmediagroup.com

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