The North Grenville Public Library Board is pleased to announce that its Vice-Chair, Dr. Kerry Badgley, has been chosen as the recipient of the 2022 Larry Moore Distinguished Service Award by the Ontario Library Association (OLA). This award recognizes an outstanding contribution to the libraries of Ontario.
Dr. Badgley has been a leader and an advocate for public libraries for the last 20 years. At the provincial level, he has been an active member of the OLA and its counterpart, the Ontario Library Boards’ Association (OLBA), including among his contributions:
- President of OLA in 2018 and President of OLBA in 2017
- Member of the OLA Advocacy Committee and the OLA Selection Committee
- Editor of the Inside OLBA newsletter and Editorial Board Member of OLA’s Open Shelf magazine
- Member of the Southern Ontario Library Service, Trustee Council 8
In 2002, Dr. Badgley and his wife, Sue Badgley, established the Sarah Badgley Literacy Fund for Rural Ontario Children in memory of their daughter. Since its inception, more than 75 Ontario public libraries have received grants from the Fund.
Here at home in North Grenville, he has been a dedicated member of the Library Board for 20 years, taking on terms as both Chair and Vice-Chair. He is a well-loved figure at the Library itself, performing music, along with his wife, for children at monthly Juice Jams, and at the annual Kid’s Holiday Funfest, organized by the Friends of the North Grenville Public Library.
In his award acceptance speech, Dr. Badgley noted that as a child growing up in poverty, he knew that he would always be treated with respect and with dignity at his local library, concluding: “I now have the chance to support libraries, and I do so whenever possible. And I hope that I set a positive example for others, so that they become involved in libraries too.” He is a true champion of libraries, and none more so than our own North Grenville Public Library.
