MAC 2024 Award for Excellence by Health Sciences Library Staff
The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association is excited to announce that Mary Gail Merlina is the winner of the 2024 MAC Award for Excellence by Health Sciences Library Staff.
Mary Gail Merlina, the Main Desk Circulation Manager at Falk Library, University of Pittsburgh, is amazing! She has been with the library for 40 Years (https://www.utimes.pitt.edu/news/after-40-years-these-pitt), during which time she has always provided consistent and excellent library service and in recent years after her promotion, has trained her staff to do the same. Her welcoming smile always greets the students, faculty, and staff that come into the library. A few recent concrete examples of why she is deserving of the MAC Award for Excellence by Health Sciences Library Staff include:
Our library has been in a major state of construction over the past several years. Mary Gail has acted as the point person for accommodating construction in the library. This includes coordinating and packing the physical collection for storage and directing movers with furniture to prepare the library space to be reopened. In the next several months she will be integral in returning the books and journals from storage.
During this year our library underwent Strategic Planning. One Strategic Priority identified was “Foster a Dynamic and Supportive Environment for HSLS Staff”. To support this Mary Gail has always led the hosting of staff activities and get togethers including lunches for various holidays and to show support for Pittsburgh sports teams. These gatherings are often the only times our hybrid staff can get together and are crucial for team building.
Another Strategic Priority that Mary Gail helps to move forward is “Advance Academic Excellence” which includes the goal to “…advance academic excellence and nurture continuous learning by providing access to relevant educational resources, innovative technologies, tailored instruction, inclusive student engagement activities, and both quiet and collaborative physical spaces”. Mary Gail hosts, plans, and evaluates the success of student wellness/engagement activities, including the ever-popular therapy dog visits and snacks for finals weeks. Her hot chocolate recipe is a favorite of all! In addition, she has worked on collaborative teams to make such events as the Healthcare Reform exhibit and panel discussion a success.
Finally, this year our library signed agreements with several publishers to enable eligible authors to publish open access, either at no charge or at a discounted article processing charge (APC). These agreements cover corresponding authors who are currently enrolled as students or employed at the University of Pittsburgh. Many of these agreements are also available to current UPMC employees and students. Mary Gail has worked with librarians to help identify when authors meet the set criteria so that OA requests can correctly be approved or rejected.
