The Beta Phi Mu Award is an annual award to a library school faculty member or to an individual for distinguished service to education for librarianship. The first award was made in 1954 to Rudolph Hjalmar Gjelsness, Dean of the University of Michigan's Library Science Department from 1940 to 1964. The Award is sponsored by the International Honorary Society, Beta Phi Mu. Prominent Leaders in the field of Librarianship include those who were selected for the Beta Phi Mu Award.Beta Phi Mu (ΒΦΜ or βφμ) was founded in 1948 by a group of leading librarians and library educators to recognize and encourage scholastic achievement among library and information studies students. The motto, "Aliis inserviendo consumor," meaning “Consumed in the service of others” was selected by the founders based o