They have done this for 20 years, and I'm the second state librarian to receive this honor," she said, noting that the last state librarian selected was from Utah in 1998.

Blake is New Jersey's state librarian, working for the New Jersey State Library at 185 W. State St. in Trenton. She is responsible for developing new programs that build collaborations among various communities to extend and expand library services in the state and be yond. She oversees the information center next to the Statehouse on West State Street and the Library for the Blind and Handicapped in Ewing, and works with all of the other libraries in the state.

During her seven-year tenure, she has created programs supporting businesses and developed literacy skills, as well as extending pub lic access to library materials in all communities.

"Rarely has Library Journal been blitzed with as much impressive evidence of the contribution of one librarian to innovation that converts formerly skeptical citizens, politicians, and other public servants to the view that strong libraries are central to the future of their states," wrote the journal's Editor-at-Large, John N. Berry III, in a feature article that ran in the January issue of the publication.

Blake's colleagues nominated her in secret, along with 13 letters supporting her nomination from leaders in the library and the business and academic sectors of New Jersey.

"It was very much a surprise," she said of the honor. Winning the award, she said, will help shed some light on what state libraries actually do.

As an example, she points out that the New Jersey State Library offers services such as the largest accessible law library.

Of course, there are perks. As Librarian of the Year, Blake will go out and spread the word about New Jersey libraries. "I can't think of a better job than that," she said, adding that she was invited to give a speech in Frankfort, Germany. "It's a good product, and telling people about it makes it easy. What's not to like about libraries?"

Blake grew up in Moorestown, and still lives there. She received a bachelor's degree in English from Montclair State University before taking a job teaching adult education and then junior high school. She went on to earn a master's in library science from Rutgers University. Since then, she worked her way up through several small libraries before taking on director ships in South River, Gloucester County and Burlington County Library System, the largest in New Jersey. She became state librarian in 2001.

An example of one of Blake's pet programs is the New Jersey Knowledge Initiative, or NJKI, a way of bringing information infrastructure to New Jersey's businesses. In short, if a small business needs to collect articles from journals for research, they may have to spend up to $30, and that adds up, especially if they are charging it on credit cards. Blake secured $6 million from the legislature, and had the library negotiate licenses for a dozen high-end databases in "time- embargoed materials."

"We took $6 million and bought $74.5 million worth of licenses for two years," Blake said proudly. "We have had 15 million downloads in two years. The program was so successful it won the State Government's 2007 Innovation Award."

Blake also spearheaded the state library's first marketing campaign using a "Super Librarian" character.

"This was aimed at tweens and teens, helping them see that librarians are accessible people that solve life's problems and help with their homework," she said.

As part of the campaign, a "Super Librarian" comic book contest was implemented, in which teenagers could create their own comic strip back story using the character, or a YouTube video. Nearly 17,000 votes were tabulated and the winning comic strip was published and distributed to all New Jersey library branches. The 2007 winner was Sharon Scaife of Cinnaminson.

The campaign was so popular that Blake was contacted by librarians from Australia wanting to use the image.

Blake's colleagues describe her as a "library missionary," buoyed by a drive to promote libraries and all its benefits.

"That's what is so great about Norma," said Nancy Dowd, direc tor of marketing for the New Jersey State Library. "She sees a great idea and says 'Let's go for it,' and because of her, New Jersey libraries are innovative beyond belief."