Schomberg resident receives librarian of the year award

May 2, 2018 · 0 Comments

Schomberg’s Sandra Kendall has received the CHLA/ABSC Canadian Hospital Librarian of the Year Award for going above and beyond.
Kendall, director of library services at Sinai Health System, has more than 30 years of expertise in academic, public, private and non-profit libraries. Her contributions are truly remarkable.
As library director at Sinai, Kendall provides direction in implementing client-centred best practices to improve patient care in the GTA. Her key accomplishments include initiating a common catalogue platform for all hospital libraries in the GTA, by partnering with the University of Toronto’s SIRSI catalogue. He has also negotiated the first comprehensive electronic nursing collection in the GTA, positioning Mount Sinai as the first in Canada to achieved “Magnet Recognition,” a prestigious international credential that measures nursing excellence and patient care.
In 2008, Kendall founded the Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration – Library Science Program, an educational partnership with the Ethiopian academic community, to further enhance library services at the Addis Ababa University. To date, she has taught more than 1,200 learners in using HINARI, the electronic resources library, established by the World Health Organization for developing countries.
In 2018, the planned in-country training session will be held in October.
Kendall had educated residents, fellows, nurses, faculty physicians and librarians at Addis Ababa to perform literature searches, formulate and respond to clinical questions with medical library resources. She’s been able to share her expertise with librarians in national and international conferences. Kendall presented the project’s progress and success at various associations, including the Ontario Library Association, Canadian Health Libraries Association, Medical Library Association.
Kendall, in 2017, became president of the Ontario Health Libraries Association and initiated a project to transform RxTx, a major electronic drug information resource, into a provincially licenced product in all of Ontario hospitals. She’s established a positive rapport with not only library professionals, but also stakeholders in government private and non-profit sectors.
Kendall is also a writer, and published an updated evidence-based medical toolkit in the Canadian Family Physician journal, encouraging clinicians to find credible sources of medical information in a practical manner. The toolkit has been used by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, the Ministry of Public Health and a number of hospital libraries across the country.
Kendall has been a role model and mentor to library professionals around the world, and is known for her energy, creativity, sense of humour and work ethic. She continues to make an exceptional contribution to hospital librarianship in Canada and beyond.