Jean Canosa Albano Honored by URI Graduate School of Library and Information Studies

Jean Canosa Albano

SPRINGFIELD — The University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Library and Information Studies (GSLIS) announced the winners of this year’s awards for Library of the Year and Alumni of the Year. The Alumna of the Year for 2026 is Jean Canosa Albano, assistant director of Springfield City Library.

Each year, GSLIS honors two alumni: one who graduated 10 or more years ago and another recent alumnus who graduated within the last 5-10 years. The Recent Alum of the Year for 2026 is Jo Knapp, and the Library of the Year for 2026 is the Brown University Sciences Library in Providence, R.I.

Upon graduating from URI GSLIS in 1995, Albano worked as a young adult librarian at Springfield City Library. She moved up through roles such as assistant supervisor and manager of Youth Services, then manager of Public Services at the Mason Square Branch Library. In 2016, she was promoted to assistant director for Public Services at Springfield City Library, a role where she has shined for a decade.

While committed to working for her library, Albano has also long been committed to the larger Springfield community. She has served as a trustee at the Wilbraham Public Library, an outreach advisory board member for the YMCA of Greater Springfield, a member of the Massachusetts State Advisory Council for Libraries, policy council community representative and board of directors member for Holyoke Chicopee Springfield Head Start, board member for Art for the Soul Gallery, public relations committee member for the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, and vice president of Springfield Public Forum. She has served on the boards of the Massachusetts Library Assoc. and the New England Library Assoc., and made conference presentations for those associations as well as for the national American Librarian Assoc. and the Public Library Assoc.

Bilingual, Albano has served English- and Spanish-speaking members of the Springfield City Library community, providing and advocating for library services for non-English speakers. In a profile highlighting her as a BusinessWest Woman of Impact in 2018, she was lauded for being “someone committed to being involved in the community and inspiring others to get involved.” GSLIS added, “the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Library and Information Studies is proud of Jean Canosa Albano and all her accomplishments and dedication to library services and community outreach.”