May 31, 2007

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May 31, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Joel Patrick Berger; 630.653.1115, ext. 212

C. Berger Group Entrepreneurial Promise Award Winners Named for 2007 at Midwest Universities.

C. Berger Group, Inc.(CBG) one of the nation’s oldest library consulting and staffing firms recently announced the names of the three Masters in Library Science degree recipients who were selected to receive C. Berger Group, Inc. Entrepreneurial Promise Awards for 2007. CBG funds the prize which is given to graduating students who exhibit unusual creativity, reflect an innovative spirit and show the most promise for an outstanding career in a special library, nontraditional setting or as an entrepreneur. Carol A. Berger, retired founder of CBG, a former special librarian herself, initiated the gift to encourage interest in special librarianship as a career option and to focus on the qualities and skills needed to succeed in this area. Faculty members selected the students at each institution. “I am once again amazed at the talent that the Universities have to choose from in selecting just one student for the CBG Entrepreneurial Promise Award,” said Joel Patrick Berger, CBG President. “They represent the most talented and ambitious graduates from their respective programs and from across the US as a whole.” Selected at the institutions were:

Judi Bikel, seventh award winner from at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign was presented her award via the Internet during the convocation ceremony on May 13^th, 2007. Faculty lauds her innovative spirit, list of accomplishments and other special librarian traits that embody the Award. Currently employed as head librarian for the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in Los Angeles, CA, she is an active member of the Southern California Association of Law Libraries, where she is participates in projects such as the Inner City Youth Internship Program. Ms. Bikel is also the co-founder of and volunteer for KnowledgeRush.com, a free internet library of copyright-free texts with many users drawn from underserved populations. She recently gave birth to her first baby boy and is looking forward to the joys that will bring.

Alexis Braun Marks, fifth recipient at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is described by faculty members as intelligent, motivated, collegial and enterprising. “Through her words and actions she shows a passion and energy, a leadership style and confidence that sets her apart from other students”, states her faculty advisor and professor of many of her classes. Ms. Marks is very active in the Archives arena, both regionally and nationally. She has served as president of the Society of American Archivists’ student chapter at UW-Madison and has worked tirelessly to get students more involved. Her accomplishments were recognized by a visit from the SAA president and an invite to be part of SAA’s graduate paper session in Washington, DC. She has spoken at the MAC (Midwest Archives Conference) this year and has been asked to chair the graduate paper session for the annual meeting in Chicago. She will be relocating to Michigan with her husband and has already started the process of looking for freelance work while job hunting.

Kelly Quinn, fifth recipient at Dominican University was presented her award during the Beta Beta Gamma Chapter of the Beta Phi Mu initiation ceremony held May 24^th, 2007. Ms Quinn received her Bachelor’s of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame where she then spent the next 10 years employed with Continental Illinois National Bank as Vice President – Commercial Real Estate Division. During this time she received her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Leaving the corporate world to raise her children, Ms. Quinn started to dedicate her time to volunteering for a number of not-for-profit organizations. It was here, under the tutelage of a Rosary College (Dominican University) graduate, working in a variety of school library capacities that her interest in libraries blossomed and she then enrolled in the program in January 2006. She plans to become even further immersed in this filed when she enrolls in August at the University of Illinois-Chicago’s PhD program in computer-mediated communications.

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The C. Berger Group Entrepreneurial Promise Award was established by CBG in 2000 at the University of Illinois to honor a student who exhibits unusual creativity, reflects an innovative spirit and shows the most promise for an outstanding career in a special library, nontraditional setting or as an entrepreneur. The first awards were made to graduates of MLS programs at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and Dominican University, River Forest in 2003. The CBG Entrepreneurial Promise Award is one of several prizes CBG funds or sponsors annually for professional librarians and support staff of distinction nationwide. They include the Librarian of the Year, for the Illinois Library Association each fall, the Karen J. Switt Leadership Award for the Leadership and Management Division of the Special Libraries Association in June, and the Library Assistant Award at Reaching Forward South each September.

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Founded in 1982 as C. Berger And Company, C. Berger Group, Inc. is one of the oldest and largest nation-wide library consulting and staffing firms. A woman-owned full-service firm, CBG provides specialized temporary and contract workers, permanent placement, consulting and project management services to libraries and information centers from its suburban Chicago headquarters. CBG clients include corporations, government agencies, law firms, trade and professional associations, non-profit organizations, healthcare centers, public libraries and academic institutions throughout the US.

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For further information about C. Berger Group, Inc., contact:

Joel Patrick Berger, President

Phone: 630.653.1115, ext. 212

Email: jberger@cberger.com