AUSTIN, Texas—Dr. Loriene Roy, professor in the School of Information at The University of Texas at Austin, has been elected the 2007-2008 president of the American Library Association (ALA), receiving 65 percent of the vote in the association’s annual election.
Roy, an Anishinabe (Ojibwe) enrolled on the White Earth Reservation and a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, will be the first Native person to serve as ALA president.
ALA is the largest professional organization in librarianship, with more than 66,000 members.
“I’m honored to be elected to serve as ALA president for 2007-2008,” said Roy. “I look forward to working with ALA members as we continue to live and practice ALA’s vision and values. Together, we will address the many critical issues facing libraries today with a strong voice and a common purpose.”
Roy joined the nationally recognized School of Information in 1987 and teaches graduate courses in public librarianship, reference and library instruction/information literacy.
“Libraries and librarianship are undergoing a major transformation,” said Dean Andrew Dillon of the School of Information, “and I am delighted for Loriene and for the school that an educator will lead this important professional association.”
An award-winning educator and internationally known specialist in the development of information services for indigenous populations, Roy works with her students in operating “If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything,” a national reading club for Native children with 25 locations in nine states. She also received the School of Information’s first grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services for “Honoring Generations,” a scholarship program for Native graduate students. She was honored recently as the 2006 recipient of ALA’s Equality Award, which recognizes contributions for promoting equality in the library profession.
Roy will become president-elect in July 2006, and will assume the ALA presidency in July 2007, following the ALA annual conference in Washington, D.C. She will serve a one-year term as president.
For more information contact: Loriene Roy, 512-471-3959; Amy M. Crossette, School of Information, 512-573-1078.
