Kvenild Named Agnes Milstead Distinguished Librarian at UW

Cassandra Messersmith Kvenild, associate librarian and head of the University of Wyoming’s Learning Resource Center (LRC), is the recipient of UW’s 2016 Agnes Milstead Distinguished Librarianship Award.

The late Agnes Milstead, a former professor of education and library science at UW, established the prestigious award in 1993 to recognize significant contributions to University Libraries in scholarship, program development, teaching, fundraising and professional achievements.

As head of the LRC, Kvenild’s vision transformed both the physical space and the literary programs at the LRC to create a model school library for the state of Wyoming. The LRC, which serves both the university community and the UW Lab School, is a branch library of University Libraries and houses K-12 curriculum materials.

Since joining UW in 2003, Kvenild has worked in a variety of roles, including serving as UW’s distance learning librarian. In that role, she established innovative library support for outreach students and was awarded the Routledge Distance Learning Librarianship Award in 2011.

Kvenild’s scholarship work has focused on embedded librarianship and assessment of student learning. She is the co-editor of “Embedded Librarians: Moving Beyond One Shot Instruction” (2011) and “The Embedded Librarian’s Cookbook” (2014). She also is the co-author of “Classroom Assessment Techniques for Librarians” (2015). A sought-after conference presenter, her instructional skills engage students and enhance their learning.

Larry Schmidt, head of the UW Brinkerhoff Geology Library, wrote in his nomination letter, “Cass meets and surpasses the award criteria as a scholar in library sciences, innovations, teaching, collections and service to UW Libraries’ mission. She has significantly impacted UW Libraries while working as a librarian in multiple positions.”

“Cass’s leadership abilities and strategic thinking are invaluable to the university,” says Lori Phillips, interim dean of UW Libraries.

Kvenild serves as an interim associate dean of UW Libraries. She earned her M.L.I.S. (2000) from the University of Washington Information School and her B.A. (1996) from UW.