Hollidaysburg library director Janet Eldred's courageous battle with early-onset dementia has helped to earn her a national award.

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The American Library Association's Lemony Snickett Prize for Noble Librarian's Facing Adversity was established in 2014 by the association in partnership with Daniel Handler.  The prize, which is administered by ALA's Governance Office annually recognizes and honors a librarian who has faced adversity with integrity and dignity in tact.

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Winning this year's award was a thrill of a lifetime for Janet.  "It was one of the top things that has happened over my lifetime", she says.

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She adds that it just acknowledges the work that she is able to do in spite of the mental ineptitude that she has right now.  "I just do the best with what I have", Janet says.  She continues that she receives a lot of help from the library staff.  The Board of Directors have been very supportive as have the library patrons, she adds.

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Janet's husband Keith says that they have been aware of the award for several years, now. He adds that since they knew that they would be telling her story for medical challenges, anyway, they thought why don't they apply for this.  He says that it was early 2021 that the deadline came.  He held off until then because he felt that they needed to have some of their This is Red Project behind them and not just be an idea but something that they were actually following through on.....

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**To read the complete article, check out the upcoming book release They Came From Blair County Volume Two.

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**Information for this article was obtained through a phone interview with Janet Eldred and an in-person interview with Keith Eldred.

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**Photos were taken by author Eric Shields