Jennifer Craft, librarian of the Mulberry St. Branch Library, and the staff of the branch that opened a year ago, received the 2008 Maher Stern Award for Service Excellence on Monday.
The award, which includes $1,000 in cash for the winning librarian and a $1,000 grant in support of the branch operations, was presented by New York Public Library President Paul LeClerc at the community room of the branch at 10 Jersey St., located between Prince and Houston Sts. and Lafayette and Mulberry Sts.
“The sensitive and thoughtful planning and dedicated work of Jennifer Craft and her staff have made the branch an important resource for a unique neighborhood,” LeClerc said. Since it opened in May 2007, the Mulberry branch, in the three-story space converted from a former chocolate factory, has received nearly 200,000 visitors, many of whom are regulars.
Craft, who came to the N.Y.P.L. in 2000, also helped open the renovated Ottendorfer Branch in the East Village in 2001 and the renovated Seward Park Branch on E. Broadway and Jefferson St. in 2004.
Alison Maher Stern and her husband, Leonard Stern, established the award in 1993 to recognize a branch librarian and staff who have provided outstanding community service.
