Sacramento Public Library Director and CEO Rivkah Sass received the 2020 Charlie Robinson Award from the American Library Association (ALA).
The prestigious annual award honors a public library director who, over seven years, has been an innovator, risk-taker and change agent in a public library and known for developing programs that are responsive to community residents’ needs.
Not one to shy away from a challenge, Sass moved to California in 2009 and assumed leadership of the 28-library system when it was in the midst of a crisis. Under her leadership, the Sacramento Public Library has transformed into an
award-winning institution that has earned considerable community trust and support.
"Charles Robinson was a friend and mentor who supported me, sometimes argued with me and always pushed me to be the best I could be," said Sass. "The award was established in 1997 and I just might be one of the last recipients who knew and learned his 'Give ‘em what they want' philosophy and believed him to be a true prophet when it came to the future of libraries, why reading for pure pleasure is so important and how technology was going to change our work."