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New Orleans librarian wins $3,000 prize

NEW YORK (AP) — A New Orleans-based librarian known as “the book lady” for her dedication to her community has won the inaugural Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced With Adversity.

Laurence Copel will receive $3,000 in prize money for her efforts, which include setting up a library in her own home and riding her bicycle to reach families in need of books. The award, announced Monday, is co-sponsored by the American Library Association and Lemony Snicket author Daniel Handler. The ALA and Handler cited Copel as a librarian who managed difficult times with “integrity and dignity intact.”

Her dignity will be tested June 29 at the ALA’s annual conference in Las Vegas. Along with a certificate, she is set to receive “an odd object from Handler’s private collection.”

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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