UH Libraries cleaned up at the Texas Library Association’s annual conference last weekend at the George R. Brown Convention Center.’
Established in 1902, the organization of more than 7,000 members aims to promote, support and improve services in libraries across the state. As the largest state library association in the country, TLA’s membership spans across a broad scope of leaders in all types of libraries as well as library vendors and citizens who support libraries.’
TLA awarded UH Libraries the Best of Show award for the three commercials library staff created with the UH Student Video Network.
UH Libraries also won Best PR Plan/Year-Round Activities for their aggressive year-long campaign to promote their resources.
Business and economics librarian Loretta Wallace and science and mathematics librarian Robin Dasler were two of the co-founders of UH Libraries’ marketing committee.
Wallace and Dasler said they saw a need to market the libraries’ resources that get overlooked, such as the librarians themselves.
‘We are one of the resources people don’t always realize they can use,’ Dasler said.
Library staffers were not overlooked at the TLA conference as UH Dean of Libraries Dana Rooks was awarded the 2009 TLA Distinguished Service Award.’
Rooks, who has been with UH for 29 years, was a former president of the TLA and winner of the 1997 Librarian of the Year award for her work on TexShare, a cooperative program that enables the sharing of resources among academic, special and public libraries.’
‘I’ve benefitted enormously, and I feel like my library has benefitted from my participation in the Texas Library Association,’ Rooks said.
UH Libraries won awards for outstanding academic and marketing achievements, and Rooks said she is particularly proud of their first-place finish in the Book Cart Drill Team competition.’
‘It’s a great recruiting tool, too, besides us having fun,’ Rooks said. ‘Then librarians know this is a cool place to come work and that we do have fun.’
Their dance routine ‘Materials Girl,’ which involved pushing and dancing atop book carts to Madonna’s song ‘Material Girl,’ was put together by former dance instructor and UH Library Development Director Iska Wire.’
Staff and faculty from across all UH library departments comprised the winning team.
‘No librarians were injured during the making,’ Wire said.’
