Dawn Miller — Director, Lakin Library & Envisioning Center, Tabor, IA & 2025 Innovative Service Award Recipient
Dawn Miller exemplifies innovative rural library leadership. Serving a community of approximately 1,000 residents across two counties, Dawn has transformed what was once a cramped 900-square-foot facility into a thriving 7,000-square-foot community hub that opened in 2022.
As the 2025 recipient of ARSL's Innovative Service Award, Dawn has revolutionized rural library service through creative problem-solving and community partnership. She spearheaded a capital campaign that raised over $1.7 million during COVID-19, with the library paying off its remaining $22,500 loan within a year. Under her leadership, annual patron visits have soared from 700 to over 12,000.
Dawn's innovations extend beyond traditional library services. She made Lakin Library the first library in Iowa to become a UPS Access Point, processing approximately 800 packages annually. She secured competitive grants, including being one of only 20 libraries nationwide selected for Geri-Fit's Tabor-Fit senior wellness program and one of four Iowa sites chosen to host the Smithsonian's "SPARK! Places of Innovation" traveling museum.
Her decade-long Pint Size Science collaboration with local schools and extension offices, along with Science with Seniors programs at the local care center, demonstrates her commitment to serving all ages and abilities. Dawn's advocacy earned her the 2016-2017 Iowa Reading Association Celebrate Literacy Award, recognizing her powerful impact on promoting literacy throughout her community.
Her tip for fellow rural library professionals:
“The more programs and services you can offer your community, the more people's lives you will touch. In return, that means more people to support what you are doing.”
Dawn credits ARSL with significantly enhancing her professional growth. "The classes I have attended both online and at conference, along with grants and scholarships I have been awarded, have greatly increased the impact our library has," she shares. For example, she obtained First Aid, CPR, and AED certification for just $20 at the conference—just two weeks after her library received a memorial donation for an AED unit.
Read More About the 2025 ARSL Award Recipients
Written by the ARSL Office
