{"id":4410,"date":"2026-11-06T06:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T06:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/?p=4410"},"modified":"2026-11-06T06:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T06:24:12","slug":"usla-awards-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/index.php\/2026\/11\/06\/usla-awards-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"USLA Awards 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"dslc-theme-content\"><div id=\"dslc-theme-content-inner\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Congratulations to the 2026 Utah School Library Association (USLA) Award Honorees!<\/strong> \ud83d\udcda\u2728<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Utah School Library Association is proud to celebrate four extraordinary individuals whose leadership, dedication, and passion strengthen school libraries and inspire readers across the state:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>DaNae Leu<\/strong> (<em>Sunburst Elementary School, Davis School District<\/em>) \u2013 <strong>Paraprofessional of the Year<\/strong>: Recognized for her pure love of reading and her unforgettable, contagious passion for sharing great books with students.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Wendy Blakenship<\/strong> (<em>Bryant Middle School, Salt Lake City School District<\/em>) \u2013 <strong>School Librarian of the Year<\/strong>: Honored for her commitment to inclusivity, securing vital funding, and creating a welcoming, engaging space where every student feels valued.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tawna Smith<\/strong> (<em>Principal, Central Davis Junior High School, Davis School District<\/em>) \u2013 <strong>Administrator of the Year<\/strong>: Celebrated for her continuous support, funding, and dedication to enhancing the library learning experience for students and staff.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>State Senator Michael K. McKell<\/strong> (<em>Utah Senate District 25<\/em>) \u2013 <strong>Legislative Partner Award<\/strong>: Honored for his commitment to school libraries and his advocacy for clear, constructive standards that safeguard access to balanced, age-appropriate educational materials.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thank you to each of these outstanding leaders for making a lasting difference in Utah's schools and communities!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" data-id=\"4411\" src=\"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20-360x203.png 360w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/20.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" data-id=\"4414\" src=\"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/21-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4414\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/21-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/21-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/21-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/21-360x203.png 360w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/21-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/21.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" data-id=\"4412\" src=\"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/22-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4412\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/22-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/22-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/22-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/22-360x203.png 360w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/22-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/22.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" data-id=\"4413\" src=\"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/23-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/23-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/23-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/23-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/23-360x203.png 360w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/23-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/23.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Congratulations to the 2026 Utah School Library Association (USLA) Award Honorees! \ud83d\udcda\u2728 The Utah School Library Association is proud to celebrate four extraordinary individuals whose leadership, dedication, and passion strengthen school libraries and inspire readers across the state: Thank you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/index.php\/2026\/11\/06\/usla-awards-2026\/\" class=\"read-more\">Read More ...<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4415,"href":"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4410\/revisions\/4415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.utahsla.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}