FERRIDAY &8212; Concordia Parish Library Director Amanda Taylor was awarded the Louisiana Library Association&8217;s highest award Wednesday at its annual conference.

The Essae Mae Culver Distinguished Service Award is tantamount to a lifetime achievement Oscar, and the association&8217;s publicity co-chair Betsy Miguez said it was well deserved.

&8220;It&8217;s the way she has conducted herself at the library, the programs she has developed and the way she has raised the service in the area without a lot of financial support,&8221; Miguez said.

Taylor said she was honored to receive the award but refused to acknowledge it was hers alone.

&8220;I share this honor with the Concordia Parish Library Board, who nominated me, the library staff and the children and adults we serve,&8221; she said. &8220;Even in rural areas, people deserve the very best service we can provide.&8221;

In her nearly three decades behind the desk, Taylor has achieved a lot for the parish, and not only its book lovers.

She led the effort to have the old courthouse in Vidalia listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was part of the team that got the Delta Music Museum built in Ferriday.

She has served on advisory boards for the United Way of the Miss-Lou, International Paper Company and the Shelby M. Jackson Technical College and is a member of both the Vidalia and Ferriday chambers of commerce.

She hasn&8217;t kept her skills only in Concordia Parish, however, as she helped create two important handbooks for public library directors across the state.