James F. Williams II, dean and director of the University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries, is the 2002 recipient of the American Library Association's Melvil Dewey Medal, which recognizes distinguished service to the profession of librarianship.
The award is given to an individual or group for recent creative professional achievement in library management, training, cataloging and classification, and the tools and techniques of librarianship. The medal was presented June 18 during the ALA's annual conference in Atlanta.
"The breadth and depth of Dean James Williams' service to librarianship prompted the jury to choose him as this year's recipient of the Melvil Dewey Medal," said award chair Julie Huiskamp. "His stellar work in leadership, management and diversity issues in libraries over a long and distinguished career warrant both recognition and celebration. The members of the jury found Jim Williams to be extremely deserving of this honor."
Williams is a founding member and creator of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition. Through his leadership, collaborative resource projects of all sorts have been emphasized and implemented in the area of scholarly communications.
Williams is a noted and widely published author and has presented papers nationally and internationally. He has served on many boards of directors including BioOne, Center for Research Libraries, Council on Library and Information Resources, Educom, Greater Western Library Alliance, Boulder Chamber of Commerce, Boulder Community Hospital, Central Colorado Library System, Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries, Colorado Department of Education, and is currently a trustee for the Denver Art Museum.
Williams is an active member in the ALA, Colorado Association of Libraries and the Society for Scholarly Publishing. He served on the first ALA Spectrum Steering Committee for four years. He holds a bachelor's degree from Morehouse College and a master's of library science from Atlanta University.