The George N. Atiyeh Prize was founded by the Middle East Librarians Association in 1999 to honor George N. Atiyeh, retired Head of the Near East Section of the Library Congress, founding member of MELA and of the Middle East Microform Project, for his many contributions to Middle East librarianship and scholarship. Dr. Atiyeh is the first and only honorary member of MELA. The George Atiyeh Prize offers financial aid to attend the annual meetings of MELA and of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA).
Awardees receive a cash award in addition to their registration fees for both the MELA and MESA annual conferences. Awardees must agree to attend both the MELA and MESA conferences in their entirety, to allow their names and photographs to be used in any publicity by MELA or other organizations contacted by MELA, and to write a report on their conference experience, to be published in MELA Notes.
This year, students who are currently enrolled in library and information science programs located in the Middle East are eligible to apply for this award in addition to those enrolled in ALA accredited programs.
1. Applications should be submitted through email to the George Atiyeh Prize Committee (atiyehprize@mela.us).
2. Applications will include the following:
- Name, E-mail address, Institution name, Location, Name of the program and Links to website/ Social media (optional).
- Current resume or C.V.
- Personal Statement of maximum 800 words that includes the following: 1) Description of your academic, work related or other background in librarianship. 2) Statement of your career goals, including a description of your current course of study. 3) Statement of why you wish to attend these meetings. (All documents should be in PDF format)
3. Qualified applicants will be awarded in the amount of $250.00. In addition, any registration fees for MELA and MESA will also be paid by MELA.
4. Awardee(s) will be notified by e-mail and by written letter of their award. The Committee will send a written letter to the Dean of the program in which the awardee(s) is currently enrolled, announcing the Prize. Each awardee must return a written statement that they agree to:
- Attend MELA and MESA in their entirety (exceptions will be granted only by the Committee).
- Allow their names and pictures to be used in any publicity by MELA or any organization which MELA contacts regarding the Prize.
- Write a report immediately after the conference for publication in MELA Notes reporting on their conference experience.
5. The Committee will announce the name(s) of the awardee(s) as soon as confirmation of Prize acceptance has been received, and will direct the Secretary/Treasurer to send checks as quickly as possible.
6. Awardee(s) will be recognized at the MELA conference and business meeting. They should also to attend most sessions of MELA and some of the panels/sessions of MESA and any other meetings being held during the conference period that relate to libraries, archives, etc. (e.g., RLG, OCLC)
7. The deadline for applying is September 30th 2021, and successful awardee(s) will be announced on 10 October.
2021 George N. Atiyeh Committee:
- Leili Seifi (leili.seifi@birjand.ac.ir), Associate Professor, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran. (Chair)
- Aicha Azzaoui (a-azzaoui@northwestern.edu), Patron Services Supervisor, Northwestern University, Evanston IL, U.S. (Member)
- Maurice Hines (mauricehines6@gmail.com), Librarian, American University of Cairo, Egypt. (Member)
- Guy Burak (guy.burak@nyu.edu), Librarian for Middle Eastern, Islamic and Jewish Studies (and Interim Librarian for African Studies), Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, New York University, New York, U.S. (Member)