The Geneva Public Library District outreach team recently was named a 2025 Alexander J. Skrzypek Award for Exceptional Service to People with Disabilities recipient by the Illinois Library Association.

The award is presented to groups or individuals who made contributions to library service advancements for disabled individuals in the state of Illinois.

The outreach team was selected for its approach serving developmentally, physically, and intellectually disabled Geneva residents. The team created programs including “Library to Go,” which delivers books to residential and day programs, and “Books and Beyond”, a bi-weekly book club for developmentally and intellectually disabled adults.

The award was presented to the team at the 2025 Illinois Library Association Annual Conference Oct. 15 in Rosemont.

“Their work is not just inclusive, it is visionary, personal, and transformative,” MidValley Special Education Cooperative vocational facilitator Meg Bingham said in a news release. “They have trailblazed new models of inclusive library engagement and created real-world vocational training opportunities for students with disabilities.”

Geneva Public Library District outreach team librarian Ginny Sieck also was awarded an Innovation in Outreach Programming—Youth Services Award from the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services. The award honors creativity in developing outreach programs expanding library access to underserved or underrepresented audiences.

Sieck earned the award at the association’s annual conference Oct. 9 in St. Louis, Missouri.

The library’s outreach team served over 10,00 community members, tripled memory care program engagement, and expanded services to residents facing participation barriers. The team also will hold a Fund the Journey campaign. The campaign’s goal is to raise $250,000 to support the library’s new outreach van. The van will expand program and partnership access.

“Our staff have built an outstanding team, and we need the community’s help to give them the tools they need to continue and to expand this impactful and critical service,” Geneva Public Library board of trustees treasurer Chuck Miles also said in the news release. “This is an opportunity to help people in our community that you will never know and in ways that you can’t imagine.”

For information, visit gpld.org or genevalibraryfoundation.org.