The National Medal is awarded in Washington, D.C. each year. Representatives of the winning libraries and museums travel for the ceremony, participate in a discussion panel, and more. This year’s ceremony was held at the U.S. Institutes of Peace on May 24, 2018. You can see more about the ceremony on the IMLS website.

The library staff and community representatives who traveled to Washington for the ceremony took a cutout of Reggie, aka the GPL’s Chief Morale Officer. Reggie is the canine companion of Rosie Rocke, one of our chosen community representatives. While the real Reggie couldn’t be there  in person, he was there in (cutout) spirit. Here is a video of Rosie before the trip, talking about what the library means to her…and Reggie.

Meanwhile, library staff and patrons were gearing up to watch the ceremony back in Texas. Below, staff are watching an early morning panel discussion that library director Eric Lashley participated in. A livestream setup in the lobby allowed us to see Eric and our other colleagues over the course of the awards day. Later in the day, library patrons and volunteers gathered here to watch the awards ceremony itself, and the staff gathered in a staff conference room to celebrate.

This video was made by the IMLS and broadcast at the beginning of the National Medal ceremony on May 24. It features a segment about each of the 2018 winners.

View more photos from the ceremony and the reception on the IMLS flickr stream here.

Continue our IMLS story by reading about our celebrations at home here.