Contact Info
Calvin T. Ryan Library

University of Nebraska Kearney
2508 11th Avenue
Kearney, NE 68849-2240

Tel: (308) 865-8599

Dean of the Library
Evan Boyd

Email: boyde@unk.edu
Tel: (308) 865-8546

Library Awards & Scholarship


Calvin T. Ryan Library Award for Undergraduate Research

The Calvin T. Ryan Library Award for Undergraduate Research, in conjunction with the Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Activity, recognizes and honors excellence in the use of library services, collections, and resources by undergraduate student researchers. A committee consisting of library and departmental faculty will determine the winner, who will be announced at the Student Research Day Award Ceremony. The prize is $200. All undergraduate exhibitors and presenters at Student Research Day, sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research, are eligible to apply for the award. The due date for 2025 submissions is TBD.

Rochelle Reeves

Submit application documents as an email attachment to: Rochelle Reeves

How to apply

To apply for this award, submit the following:

  • A bibliography of all works cited and consulted for the project.
  • A narrative of the research process, explaining how library resources (Research Guides, databases, indexes, etc.) were used for the project and specifying which Calvin T. Ryan Library services (research consultations, web tutorials, etc.) were used within the research process.
  • Do not include research logs or copies of articles with the application.

Evaluation Criteria

Applicants will be judged by a panel of UNK library and departmental faculty in accordance with the Association of College and Research Libraries' Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education.

These criteria include demonstrating the ability to:

  • Determine information needs to start research
  • Effectively find information
  • Critically evaluate information for relevancy
  • Synthesize information
  • Ethically use information


Past Recipients

  1. 2024 - Noelle Abels
  2. The Effects of Language Learning vs Reading in Mother Tongue on Cognition in Older Adults: A Pilot Study.
  3. Mentor: Dr. Ladan Ghazi Saidi
  1. 2023 - Jarod Owen
  2. A Unique Pattern of Stuttering in a Bilingual Adult: A Case Study
  3. Mentor: Dr. Ladan Ghazi Saidi
  1. 2022 - No award given
  1. 2021 - Wynn Cannon
  2. Considering the Mental Health Implications Caused by Social Isolation During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review of Literature
  3. Mentor: Tiffani Luethke, Department of Communication
  1. 2020 - Daniel Vargas Castano
  2. The Current Parking Problem at UNK
  3. Mentor: Frank Tenkorang
  1. 2020 - Co-Authors: Tatiana Moore & Mitch Robey
  2. Retracing Old Lines: The Story of World War II Correspondence to the Doane Family of Bayard, NE
  3. Mentor: Jeff Wells
  1. 2019 - No award given
  1. 2018 - Shelby Hinrichs
  2. Screening Speech, Language, and Reading Abilities of Home-schooled Children
  3. Mentor: Dr. Whitney Schneider-Cline, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Disorders.
  1. 2017 - Kathrin Roberts
  2. The Use of Electropalatography and Traditional Articulation Therapy in Remediating Persistant Speech Sound Errors.
  3. Advisor: Dr. Whitney Schneider-Cline, Department of Communication Disorders
  1. 2016 - Shelby Stultz
  2. Developing Literature that Helps Improve Articulation of /r/ Sounds.
  3. Advisor: Dr. Diane Loeb, Department of Communication Disorders
  1. 2015 - Shaun Friedrichsen
  2. Accepting the Bitter Reality: an examination of the poetry of Stephen Crane.
  3. Advisor: Dr. Christie Maloyed, English Department
  1. 2014 - Ru Meng
  2. The Spatial Distribution of Earthquakes in China 1920 - 2013.
  3. Advisor: Dr. Vijendra Boken, Department of Geography & Earth Sciences
  1. 2013 - Sangeeta Boken
  2. Arranged versus Love Marriages: a comparison between the United States and India.
  3. Advisor: Dr. Toni Hill, Department of Family Studies & Interior Design

Florence M. Wagner Scholarship Recipients

The Florence M. Wagner Scholarship was established by her daughter, Carolyn Ann Wagner Snyder, in honor of her mother. Both were graduates of Kearney State College/University of Nebraska Kearney. (KSC/UNK) Ms. Snyder graduated in 1964 and Ms. Wagner was a mid-life graduate in the 1970’s. The education received was critical to the quality of both of their lives. During her undergraduate years at KSC, Ms. Snyder worked in the library; she then went on to obtain a graduate degree in Library Science from the University of Denver. She had a long career in academic library administration in Nebraska, Indiana and Illinois.

As a member of a Nebraska farm family with ties to Elgin and Oakdale, Ms. Snyder and her family are proud of their farm heritage and pioneering ancestors. She also understands and greatly appreciates the importance of contributing resources to help others obtain an education and enhance the quality of their lives.

Award Year Award Recipient High School Where Recipient Graduated
2023/24 Chris Mercer Gibbon High School
2020/21 Kaitlyn Pflaster Callaway High School
2019/20 Andrew Oliver Wilber-Clatonia High School
2018/19 Shelby Hinrichs Giltner High School
2017/18 Rose Hafer Cody-Kilgore High School
2016/17 Sara Pardue Scottsbluff High School
2015/16 Benjamin Dyer Lincoln East High School
2014/15 Aaron Ohri O’Neil St. Mary’s High School
2013/14 Shaun Friedrichsen Fairbury High School
2012/13 Johnathan McDermott Anselmo-Merna High School
2011/12 Shaun Friedrichsen Fairbury High School
2010/11 Andrea Collinson Doniphan-Trumbull High School
2009/10 Amanda Nielsen
Inaugural Recipient 		Ogallala

UNK © 2024