Steve Armstrong was the Support Services Division Manager at the Library starting in 2002. His position included oversight of the Library’s Literacy Program.  Steve was a true advocate for literacy, and also was the staff liaison to the Library Foundation. Steve was instrumental in re-energizing the Foundation and brought a warm, generous and enthusiastic spirit to everything he worked on.

In the words of Foundation Past President Paula Montanez, “his generosity to us was in the form of positive enthusiasm, ideas, motivation and liberal praise and appreciation for all of us that he worked with. If you think about it, his generosity is really what brought him to us: he was committed to Literacy, as a way to share his love of reading with those who had not yet received that gift.”

Steve passed away in October 2008. To honor Steve’s memory, the Foundation and Library staff decided on an annual award, and so the Steve Armstrong Excellence in Literacy Award was established to recognize individuals for their work in helping people discover the gift of reading.