OLD TOWN – Valerie Osborne, director of the Old Town Public Library, has been named Outstanding Librarian of the Year by the Maine Library Association. The award was presented May 4 at the annual Maine Libraries Conference at the Augusta Civic Center.

Osborne was selected for her dedication to providing extraordinary library services to Maine through her work as director of the Old Town Public Library. She has been involved in and-or actively supportive of every major library initiative in Maine during the past 10 years. She has served as president of the Maine Library Association, chairwoman of the Maine Library Commission, co-chairwoman of the Maine Libraries Conference and on the Northeastern Library District executive board.

Linda Lord, director of library development at the Maine State Library, said Osborne is a catalyst and a source of inspiration and ideas. Librarians from all types of Maine libraries call Osborne for support, to share ideas or to benefit from her experience and wisdom, Lord said.

One program that served as an inspiration for other libraries was Osborne’s GirlsTalk program, which pairs middle school girls with successful community women in monthly book talks and a dinner at the library, and occasional outings to cultural events or physically challenging recreation.

Maine was the first state to have all its libraries connected to the Internet, according to Barbara McDade, director of the Bangor Public Library and last year’s Outstanding Librarian of the Year. Maine is one of the few states that have provided connections to even its smallest libraries. Osborne, McDade said, deserves much credit for this accomplishment.

Osborne’s political skills and willingness to contact members of the legislature on behalf of library-related legislation are tremendous assets for all the state’s libraries, said Lord.

Karen Reilly, librarian at Eastern Maine Technical College, served on the award selection committee.