The chance to win national recognition was one thing that attracted Gina Millsap to the CEO’s job she took in 2005 at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library.

"I told the staff when I got here, ‘We will be "Library of the Year," because this library is that good,’ " she recalled.

That dream came true Tuesday, when the local library at 1515 S.W. 10th was named as the 2016 Gale/Library Journal "Library of the Year."

The honor, which comes with a $10,000 cash prize, is "kind of the Academy Awards for libraries," Millsap said.

"This is a big dog deal," she said. "Only one library gets ‘Library of the Year.’ "

Millsap said she was proud of the library’s staff, adding the facility couldn’t have won without the support it receives from the community.

This was the first time the Topeka library had applied for the honor, which has been given out annually since 1992 and is open to any of more than 9,595 public libraries in the U.S. and Canada.

It wasn’t clear how many libraries were nominated this year. Libraries may nominate themselves or be nominated by others.

A nine-person panel chooses the winner on behalf of the Library Journal trade publication and Gale, which is a part of Cengage Learning that produces reference sources for libraries.

The award was described as "an honor that resonates for a lifetime" on the Library Journal website at http://cjon.co/1Ob1ROT.

"Past winners have gained immeasurable prestige within their community and national media attention," it said.

Tuesday’s announcement was made just after 8 a.m. on prnewswire.com.

The "Library of the Year" is chosen based on which nominee most profoundly demonstrates service to the community; leadership in creating programs that can be emulated by other libraries; and creativity and innovation in developing specific community programs or a dramatic increase in library usage.

As the winner, the Topeka library becomes the focus of a Library Journal cover story and will be honored in a reception at the annual conference of the American Library Association. The article can be found at http://cjon.co/1tfiIHh.

Millsap, who has worked in libraries for 40 years, was interviewed for the article by John N. Berry III, editor emeritus of Library Journal.

She recalled: "He said, ‘This is the best application I’ve ever read.’ I was like, ‘Wow! Really?’ "

Staff members served cookies to the public Tuesday morning in the library’s rotunda. Millsap said the library would celebrate in various ways for the rest of the year.

Millsap said she considered applying last year but chose to instead support the nomination of the municipal public library in Ferguson, Mo., which she said did wonderful work while that community was in crisis.

The Ferguson library won last year, joining previous honorees that included the Edmonton Public Library in Alberta, Canada, in 2014; Maryland’s Howard County Library System in 2013; and California’s San Diego County Library in 2012.

The "Library of the Year" award tends to go to facilities located in larger cities along the coasts, Millsap said.

In preparing the application it submitted in April, Millsap said the Topeka library — instead of producing a "laundry list of all the cool stuff we do" — crafted a 22-page booklet, "Creating Community."

The booklet took a journalistic approach to telling the story of the library’s efforts to make a difference in the lives of the community’s residents.

It begins: "Theresa C. Hudson sleeps at the Topeka Rescue Mission while she tries to get her life in order. By day, she learns how to use computers at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library’s Computer Training Center, building her skills and allowing her to apply for jobs online."

The document continues, "Across town, in Topeka’s Hi-Crest neighborhood, 92% of families live in poverty. There, Jeannette Benson spends a couple hours each Tuesday with embedded librarians at the Dream Center searching for jobs that will better support her five children."

The application describes various ways in which the library works to improve and enrich lives, including by creating data-based services; collaborating with local organizations, such as Heartland Visioning and 712 Innovations; and arranging for its employees to facilitate public meetings to help people from diverse backgrounds team up to tackle the community’s challenges.

"We’ve successfully fostered community development by making sure the library is at every discussion, and more often than not, we’re actually leading those discussions," the booklet said. "We’re creating leaders and lifting the community."

Berry began his article in Library Journal by writing about how the Topeka library works "to go beyond the traditional library role to become a convener for community conversation stimulating public discussion, creating leaders and uplifting its community."

He added, "The way the library has become a major force for its constituents in the city of Topeka and throughout Shawnee County sets a bar for all libraries and has earned TSCPL the 2016 Gale/LJ Library of the Year Award."