Lee Van Orsdel, dean of libraries at Eastern Kentucky University, has received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the Library School Association of the School of Library and Information Studies in the College of Communication and Information Sciences at the University of Alabama.

Van Orsdel, who earned her master's of library science degree from the University of Alabama, joined EKU in 1999 after serving eight years in a similar position at the University of Montevallo in Alabama and 14 years as head of reader services at Samford University.

EKU's library, renovated and expanded in a $13 million project in 1996, is considered one of the nation's top regional university libraries. The valuable resource for the campus community and public contains about 900,000 volumes in the main facility and in separately located music and justice and safety libraries.

Van Orsdel also earned a bachelor's degree in history and French from Samford and a master's degree from Florida State University.

The Distinguished Alumni Award, bestowed for the first time this year at the School's Alumni Day 2000, recognizes those alumni who have made outstanding contributions to the library, information and media professions. Recipients may be graduates of any of the programs of the School of Library and Information Studies (www.slis.ua.edu).