UMD's Kim Pittman, information literacy & assessment librarian at the Kathryn A. Martin Library, has been selected to receive a national award from the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). The award is the 2018 Instruction Section (IS) Innovation Award, given to Kim along with two other recipients for their work on 23 Framework Things, a free online professional development tool that helps librarians engage at their own pace through readings, activities, reflection, and discussion. 
The annual award recognizes a project that demonstrates creative, innovative, or unique approaches to information literacy instruction or programming.
The other two librarians who worked with Kim on this project were Trent Brager, education and social sciences librarian at the University of St. Thomas, and Amy Mars, research, instruction, and outreach librarian at St. Catherine University.
With 23 Framework Things, participants develop and share strategies with an emerging online community of practice while also earning prizes and badges. Each of the 23 Things addresses a different aspect of the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education (including metacognition, social justice, pedagogy, outreach/marketing, and assessment, among others) through resources such as readings, videos, or examples of the Framework in practice.
"I really enjoyed working with Amy and Trent and learning more about the Framework through this project," Kim said. "The three of us are so happy that 23 Framework Things is being used by librarians around the U.S. and internationally!"
Although originally created for use by Minnesota librarians, 23 Framework Things was made available to all interested participants in response to enthusiastic interest expressed by librarians outside the state. There are currently more than 300 registered participants from 42 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, along with nine countries outside the United States.
For more information regarding the ACRL IS Innovation Award, or a complete list of past recipients, visit the awards section of the ACRL website.
If you're interested in learning more about 23 Framework Things, contact Kim Pittman at [email protected] or 218-726-7829.