Irving Nelson, the library program supervisor of the Navajo Nation, has been named Librarian of the Year for 2010 by Reader to Reader, a national nonprofit.

Nelson was selected for promoting literacy on the reservation. He started his career by driving a bookmobile and now oversees the tribe's 76,000-book collection. He also built a large Indian-specific collection of 11,000 books, recordings and other material.

"Irving Nelson is an extraordinary individual," executive director David Mazor said on the organization's blog. "His dedication to his library and the citizens that use it is unsurpassed."

Nelson recently drove 70 tons of books, or about 10,000 titles, from Massachusetts, where Reader to Reader is based, to the Navajo Nation.

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Navajo man earns title 'Librarian of the Year' (The Farmington Daily Times 4/8)