About the F A Sharr Award 

The F A Sharr Award is named after Francis Aubie (Ali) Sharr, State Librarian in Western Australia from 1953 to 1976, in recognition of his contribution to libraries and librarianship in Western Australia and to the profession more broadly. The award is now presented to a Western Australian librarian, teacher librarian, or library technician within their first four years following graduation, who exhibits the most potential to make a significant contribution to the library profession in WA. The F A Sharr Award is maintained by the ALIAWest Group, with the generous support of the ALIA WALT Group.

The successful nominee will be selected based upon:

  • Award selection criteria
  • Interview
  • Presentation
  • Referee reports

Please note: The F A Sharr Award opens for nominations and is awarded the year following the period of achievement. The 2025 F A Sharr Award, presented in 2026, celebrates outstanding work undertaken during 2025.

The Award

The F A Sharr Awardee will receive:

  • an invitation to the Library Board Awards at the State Library of Western Australia 
  • a $500 Bursary to put towards any sort of professional development (a conference, PD session, online training, books etc)
  • a voucher for a year's personal ALIA membership, or the equivalent discount off an ALIA conference/symposium in the year ahead
  • formal recognition on the ALIA website, in ALIA News and in the ALIA Annual Report
  • Industry wide recognition 
Award Selection Criteria

To be eligible for the award the nominees must be:

  • A current Western Australian resident, having graduated from an ALIA accredited course in the last four years. The 2025 award is open to those who graduated on or after 1 January 2022
  • Personal Member of ALIA

Nominees must also show: 

  • Demonstrated understanding of the values of ALIA and how these might be embodied in professional activities. (Max 250 words)
  • Demonstrated involvement in ALIA, other professional bodies and/or community groups (Max 250 words)
  • Demonstrated understanding of current issues facing the library and information industry by briefly identifying and discussing ways forward on up to three issues. (Max 500 words)

Presentation and interview 

Selected nominees will be asked to provide a verbal 10 minute presentation on the topic "An important future issue impacting on the nominee's preferred field" as part of the interview process. This will be based on one of the issues raised in selection criteria number 3 of the application.

Referees 

Self-nominees are required to supply names and contact details for at least two referees - one should demonstrate professional involvement, one should be academic or work-related.

 

Nomination and Selection Process

There are two nomination options.

Option 1: Self-nomination
Option 2: Nomination by a colleague

Option 1: Self-nomination

Self-nominations must include:

  • Nominee details
  • Statement addressing the award selection criteria
  • Details of two referees
  • ALIA Personal Membership number

 Please submit your nomination via the online Self Nomination Form

Option 2: Nomination by a colleague

Colleagues, peers, mentors, and supervisors are encouraged to nominate an individual whom they believe would be a worthy recipient of the award using the Peer Nomination Form 

A panel will be convened by the ALIAWest Committee, with representatives from the WA Library Technicians Group and the State Library of WA, to interview selected nominees.

The selection panel devises a short series of interview questions each year to measure candidates against the selection criteria. The candidate is also asked to provide a verbal 10 minute presentation on the topic 'An important future issue impacting on the nominee's preferred field' expanding on one of the points raised in criteria three of the application. After the interviews, the selection panel will review the interviews and presentation to select the award recipient.

The winner is presented with their award during Library and Information Week at the State Library of Western Australia. 

The panel may choose not to grant the award.

Role of the Award Recipient

The Award recipient becomes the ambassador for the award and is expected to be actively involved in ALIA by joining the ALIAWest Committee and by promoting the award to encourage applications for the following year. The recipient will also be required to provide a short presentation on how the bursary was spent to the ALIAWest Committee and/or at an ALIAWest event, as appropriate.  

Past recipients

 

Important Dates for the 2025 Award (presented in 2026)

Date Detail
11th March Colleague and self nominations open 
1st May Colleague nominations close
15th May Self-nominations close
Week of 8th June Interviews of selected nominees
2nd July   Awards Night, State Library of Western Australia

Dates for the 2026 Award will be announced in early 2027