The Daniel Boone Regional Library is proud to announce that librarian Hilary Aid has been awarded the Show Me Youth Services Award by the Missouri Library Association’s Youth Services Community of Interest. This prestigious honor recognizes librarians who demonstrate outstanding performance in planning, developing and promoting library services for children and teens.
If there is anyone who most embodies the spirit of youth services, it’s Hilary Aid. Since joining DBRL in 2003, Hilary has dedicated her career to connecting young readers, families and caregivers with the joy of books and learning. After earning her graduate degree in library science, she became a youth librarian in 2009, and ever since, she’s been an unstoppable force for early literacy and community connection across Mid-Missouri.
As coordinator of DBRL’s services to child care centers, Hilary oversees operations for the library’s Bookmobile, Jr. and Book Rover outreach vehicles. In 2024 alone, those vehicles visited 56 child care centers, provided over 600 story times, and facilitated more than 24,000 checkouts — reaching more than 12,000 young children.
Hilary also co-coordinates all youth outreach events that feature our library vehicles and represents DBRL at the Boone County Home Visitors Summit.
Hilary’s innovation extends into the digital space as well. She launched the DBRL Early Childhood Connections Facebook group in 2019, which has since grown to over 1,500 followers. The group, along with her Early Childhood Education e-newsletter, has become an essential hub for child care providers and educators to find program updates, literacy tips and local resources.
Her latest initiative, Dream Big, expands DBRL’s reach even further by engaging child care centers that the library can’t visit regularly. Through story times, workshops and family literacy nights, Dream Big helps teachers and families discover new ways to build literacy and learning together.
Hilary represents the very best of what library service can be: creative, kind, collaborative and deeply committed to helping every child discover the joy of reading. We’re so proud to see her recognized at the state level for the incredible work she does every day.
Congratulations, Hilary, on this well-deserved honor! Your passion and dedication continue to inspire both your colleagues and the community you serve.
Robin Westphal, Executive Director of the Daniel Boone Regional Library