Bill Barrow, head of Special Collections in the Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State University, has received the Alumnus of the Year Award from the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University.

The award is presented to a KSU graduate who has made a significant contribution to the field of library and information science.

Barrow received his Master of Library Science degree from KSU. He also holds bachelor’s master’s degrees in history from CSU.

In the Michael Schwartz Library, Barrow leads the team that runs the Cleveland Memory Project. Launched in 2002, this extensive repository of Northeast Ohio history draws in part upon the library’s Special Collections, including approximately 1 million clips and 500,000 photographs from the Cleveland Press newspaper (which ceased publication in 1982), as well as thousands of documents, photos, films and other materials related to the construction of Cleveland's landmark Terminal Tower complex and other development projects, recordings of City Club of Cleveland speeches spanning several decades and other blasts from the past.