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Award-Winning JMU Libraries Employees for 2025-2026

Posted May 6, 2026 in Uncategorized

It was a banner year for JMU Libraries faculty, with four of them receiving university-level awards. And one of our student employees was recognized as the student employee of the year. Please join us in celebrating the JMU Libraries employees who won JMU awards this year! 

Howard S. Carrier

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Howard S. Carrier

Associate Professor Howard Carrier is the JMU Libraries winner of the Distinguished Teacher Award, which recognizes exemplary teaching. Carrier serves as the copyright and intellectual property librarian. Carrier received the award for his work in developing and teaching JUST 397 (Legal Research and Information Literacy) in the Justice Studies program. This course offers foundational skills in legal research, often found only in law schools. Carrier has been described by colleagues as “a diligent, kind, and brilliant teacher and mentor” with an “engaging and approachable lecture style and sense of humor.”

Liz Chenevey

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Liz Chenevey

Associate Professor Liz Chenevey, health and behavioral studies librarian, is the JMU Libraries Madison Scholar for 2026. The Madison Scholar is awarded for exemplary scholarship. Chenevey is recognized for her work in critical information literacy integrating a feminist ethic of care. Chenevey’s scholarly output includes books, journal articles, conference presentations, workshops, and self-published zines. A frequent and generous collaborator, Chenevey is known at JMU for her work on “Opening Up: A Fellowship for Open Pedagogy” including the publication of an open-source book by the same name. Chenevey has also been invited to contribute to the upcoming book “Emergent Strategy in Library Instruction: Stories, Reflections, and Imaginings” which she is writing in collaboration with an undergraduate student.

Rebecca French

Associate Professor Rebecca French, head of metadata analysis and operations, is the JMU Libraries winner of the Distinguished Service Award. This award recognizes a faculty member who provides exceptional professional-related service at the university, local and national levels. French’s service work in the Libraries has largely focused on policy and self-governance and so touches every member of our Libraries. She has made consistent and substantial contributions to Libraries policies related to promotion, tenure, and merit pay, all with an eye toward integrating values with policy. French has also made significant contributions to the profession through her software packages and code. As one nominator noted French “…has created and shared no fewer than twelve software packages with the world via GitHub… [and] while simply writing code may not be ‘service,’ the care Rebecca has taken to document her code and package it for distribution on GitHub is service.”

Caitlin Leek

Caitlin Leek, a desk assistant and binding assistant at the Music Library, received the JMU Student Employee of the Year recognition. Caitlin is recognized for her professionalism, her creative use of technology, and her leadership and critical thinking. Caitlin holds two roles in the Music Library, as a helpful desk assistant greeting where she helps in-person visitors and as a binding assistant where she performs hands-on binding as well as manages workflows for large-scale binding projects. Caitlin also works to promote and assist with the materials displays in the Music Library. And she does all of this while attending classes full time. As Caitlin’s supervisor shared “Caitlin has a quality about her attitude that makes everyone feel welcome and comfortable. She is friendly, enthusiastic, and maintains high productivity. She regularly works shifts for other Student Assistants when they must be absent. She ensures that patrons are heard and given excellent assistance with every interaction.”

Valerie Linsinbigler

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Valerie Linsinbigler

Assistant Professor Valerie Linsinbigler, business librarian, is the JMU Libraries winner of the Provost Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship. This award recognizes early-career tenure-track faculty members who have demonstrated significant achievement in research, scholarship, and/or creative work. Linsinbigler’s research agenda centers around user-centered information, utilizing technology and online learning to craft innovative approaches to instructional design. In 2025 Linsinbigler co-authored the book “Instructional Design for Teaching Information Literacy Online: A Student-Centered Approach,” during which time she was recognized by her co-authors for “keen project management and problem-solving skills along with her strong work ethic, creative mind, and commitment to student learning and success.” Linsinbigler has also co-authored a book chapter with a JMU Libraries colleague who described her as a “reliable, trustworthy, and generous…collaborator.”