Eileen Rhodes Receives 2025 Dr. Clara Ogbaa Award

The CSCU Library Consortium has named Eileen Rhodes, Director of Library Services at CT State Community College Capital, as the 2025 recipient of its Dr. Clara Ogbaa Award. The award was presented to Rhodes at the consortium's Summer Retreat, which was held at Eastern Connecticut State University on July 28.

Developed to recognize those who have carried out projects that have significantly advanced CSCU library services, the award was presented to Rhodes because of her outstanding leadership while in the role of Interim Director of Library Services at CT State Community College from 2021 to 2024. During her time in this role, Rhodes led efforts to revise library services and collections to reflect the community college merger, a complex undertaking that required extensive planning.

Rhodes was nominated for the award in four separate instances: by Michael Rooke, Campus President, CT State Naugatuck Valley and Northwestern; Matt Hall, Director of Library Services, CT State Quienbaug Valley; Jim Patterson Director of Library Services, CT State Northwestern; Adrianne Dunham, Director of Educational Technology, CT State Tunxis; and Tamara O'Day-Stevens, CSCU Interim Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Success.

The nominations highlighted Rhodes' collaborative leadership style. Additionally, the nominators highlighted how, through the formation of a centralized community college library e-resource collection, CT State was able to achieve an annual savings of $1.5 million.

The award is named in honor of Dr. Clara Ogbaa. During her career from 1982 to 2022, Dr. Ogbaa worked in academic and public libraries in Connecticut, Texas, and internationally. Within the CSCU system, Dr. Ogbaa served in librarian and library director roles at both Southern Connecticut State University and CT State Gateway. Dr. Ogbaa holds emeritus status at both Southern and Gateway and currently lives in Texas.

The award committee consisted of and was led by people from within the CSCU libraries. The committee was chaired by Jackie Toce (Head of Technical Services, Southern Connecticut State University) and also included Patrick Carr (CSCU Program Manager for Library Consortium Operations), Deneuve Hernandez (Library Associate, CT State Quinebaug Valley), Kristin Lavoie (part-time Reference/Instruction Librarian, CT State Manchester), Laura Vasselle (Librarian & Program Leader, Library Technology Certificate Program, CT State Three Rivers), and Alison Wang (Director of Library Services, CT State Norwalk).