The Miss Rumphius Award is based on the title character of Barbara Cooney’s wonderful book, Miss Rumphius, which won the National Book Award in 1983, this award honors librarians, school media specialists, and educators who are stellar in spreading ideas and literacy. 

The winner of the Miss Rumphius Award for 2010 is Dana Sheridan.  Dr. Sheridan is the Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Cotsen Children's Library at Princeton University. 

Her award is for an extraordinary media project entitled The BiblioFiles, which was inspired by a correspondence between Dana Sheridan and the late Lloyd Alexander, The BiblioFiles is a web-based Cotsen Children’s Library’s program that features one-on-one interviews with a variety of children’s chapter book authors.  

Listeners of all ages can access and bookmark the website (www.princeton.edu/bibliofiles) and simply click and listen to author interviews. The site includes a “Featured Author” as well as an “Audio Archive” so listeners can access any interview from the past. As of December 2010 the featured author is Maiya Williams, and authors in the audio archive include Jeanne Birdsall, Joseph Delaney, Jacqueline Kelly, Wendy Mass, Kenneth Oppel, Brandon Sanderson, Trenton Lee Stewart, and Kaye Umansky. Still to come in 2011 are M.T. Anderson and Marie Rutkoski.  While many of The BiblioFiles authors are bestsellers and award winners, Cotsen hopes to bring attention to authors whose books aren’t as recent, well known, or widely read. It is Cotsen’s goal that The BiblioFiles will also serve as a literary resource to librarians, teachers, parents, children, and fans.

Dana received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Virginia. Whileher academic career focused on how children learn in informal, out-of-school environments, her professional passion has always been the design of dynamic hands-on programs for children. Dana has designed programs for patients at the University of Virginia's Children's Hospital, developed tours for UVa's Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, and coordinated programs at the Virginia Discovery Museum.

 Additionally, she has served as a consultant for children's programs and exhibitions developed by a variety of institutions, including the National Park Service, the Princeton Center for Complex Materials, the Historical Society of Princeton, and the Philadelphia Zoo.