Student Receives Library Volunteer Award from Pasadena Museum of History

Elizabeth Steidel, a high school student at Pasadena’s Westridge School, was honored as the Outstanding Library Volunteer by Pasadena Museum of History at its annual Volunteer Recognition Reception on Saturday, August 24.

“I have the honor of presenting this year’s Mary Borgerding Award for Outstanding Library Volunteer,” said Laura Verlaque, the Museum’s Director of Collections. “We’ve been giving this award for many years now, and we have a plaque in the library filled with the names of the distinguished volunteers who have earned this award. These are all people who exemplify the traits of a good archivist: they are methodical, persistent, capable of illuminating leaps of intuition, and above all, they are nosy.

“This year’s awardee exhibits the exact qualities of the previous years, with one notable exception…Lizzie Steidel is 60 years younger than most of them! This Westridge student has faithfully worked in the archives on her Saturdays for more than a year, helping with the research for two exhibitions, wedding dresses and the Civil War. She’s using archival images to prepare a Powerpoint presentation on the history of Pasadena. In addition, Lizzie has organized the Manuscripts Collection and prepared a finding aid to it. This young lady is destined to be the next Librarian of Congress … or President of the Huntington Library… or maybe even the Executive Director of PMH! We are privileged to work with her here.”

In 2012, approximately 300 volunteers gave over 10,000 hours of service to Pasadena Museum of History, a contribution valued at nearly $250,000. Most importantly, it is only through our volunteers’ commitment and excellence that the Museum is able to present its award winning exhibitions and programs to children and adults year ‘round. We are grateful for every minute served.