Distinguished Service Award 2015 – Karen Nickeson
The Theatre Library Association Professional Awards Committee is thrilled to announce that Karen Nickeson is the recipient of the 2015 Louis Rachow Distinguished Service in Performing Arts Librarianship Award. Karen’s exemplar career at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts embodies the essence of distinguished service and we are proud to celebrate Karen’s accomplishments at the October 16th ceremony.
Karen Nickeson received her Master’s training in Library and Information Science from UNC Chapel Hill, where she also performed and taught dance locally. After a brief period in The New York Public Library branches, she was recruited as a cataloger for the Jerome Robins Dance Division. Later, as archival specialist, she worked along with the Dance Heritage Coalition to pioneer the use of standardized electronic finding aids at NYPL. When asked why she chose to join the Billy Rose Theatre Division as Assistant Curator in 2000, she answered, “because I love the words.” She retired as Curator in 2014 and is so proud to have shared her professional life with the brilliant staff of the Library for the Performing Arts.
Introduction written by Francesca Marini