2001
Theresa Coletta
Director, Avery-Mitchell-Yancy Regional Library
Burnsville, North Carolina

"Thank you for such a special honor. I do sincerely believe, with all my heart, that our public libraries are the guardians of our democracy--a way of life which truly begins and ends with our First Amendment rights. Thank you for your affirmation of this belief by honoring me with this Intellectual Freedom Award."

1999
Jerry Thrasher
Cumberland County Public Library and Information Center
Fayetteville, NC

"It is a great honor to receive this recognition from NCLA and SIRS. I thank our Library Board of Trustees, especially our chair Mrs. Kim Martin Shaffer, who held firm on our intellectual freedom policies. I thank our staff, especially Deputy Director Jody Risacher and Administrative Assistant Wendy Fraser, who supported me and the Trustees is the detailed review and processing of the numerous challenges we received. And finally, I thank our new County Attorney Grainger Barrett who briefed us on all the legal ramifications of our options. "

1997
Susan Cannady
Grimsley High School
Greensboro, NC

1995
Nora Warren
Northwestern Regional Library
Elkin, NC

1993
Sherwin Rice
Bladen County Public Library
Elizabethtown, NC

1991
Audrey Hartley
Watauga High School
Boone, NC

1989
Ann Marie Elkins
Braswell Memorial Library
Rocky Mount, NC

1987
Betty Clark
Dale Gaddis
Durham County Public Library
Durham, NC

1985
Gene Lanier
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC

1983
Rich Rosenthal
Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County
Charlotte, NC

1981
Amanda Bible
Columbus County Public Library
Whiteville, NC