1997 TLA AWARDS
Librarian of the Year
Dana Rooks, director of the University of Houston Library, has been named
1997 Librarian of the Year by the Texas Library Association for her contributions
to the library profession statewide, especially her work promoting as well
as directing the TexShare academic library consortium.
In presenting the award, the Awards Committee of the Texas Library Association cited Ms. Rooks’s strong leadership qualities, her willingness to mentor other librarians, and her wealth of information about libraries and librarianship.
It is her work with TexShare, however, that has most distinguished Ms. Rooks and earned her the admiration of her colleagues. TexShare is a resource-sharing project of which all 52 four-year public universities in Texas are members. Ms. Rooks played a key role in articulating the goals of TexShare not only to Texas librarians, but also to board members and university and college administrators. She currently serves as chair of the TexShare Board.
The Librarian of the Year Award is presented in recognition of outstanding service to the field of librarianship in Texas.
Outstanding Services to Libraries
Helen Croft of Proctor, a former chair of the board of the Comanche Public
Library, has won the Texas Library Association’s 1997 Outstanding Services
to Libraries Award. Over the past 20 years, Mrs. Croft has been an active
and dedicated library lay advocate at the local, regional, and national level.
In addition to serving as its chair, Mrs. Croft was also the vice-chair and
secretary of the Comanche Public Library board. She was also instrumental
in forming the Comanche Public Library Foundation in 1994.
The Outstanding Services to Libraries Award is presented annually to a lay leader in the area of library service.
Philanthropic Award
The Texas Library Association has awarded its 1997 Philanthropic Award to
Dr. Jagdish Mehra of the University of Houston for his donation to the library
of a unique collection of materials on the history of modern science.
Since 1952, Dr. Mehra, an avid book collector, has amassed an extraordinary private library of rare books, unpublished papers, manuscripts, photographs, and recorded interviews with many of the greatest figures in modern physics, astrophysics, philosophy, and literature.
Project of the Year
The first annual Texas Book Festival won the 1997 Project of the Year Award.
Accepting the award at the second general session at the TLA Annual Conference
in Fort Worth April 10 was a surprised Mrs. Laura Bush who had just finished
announcing the 40 libraries who had won Texas Book Festival Grant awards.
The Texas Book Festival was held in Austin in November 1996 to promote books,
reading, and published works. The event raised $125,000 that was
give
n to public
libraries across the state in the form of competitive grants. The three-day
festival presented over 40 programs related to books and reading, including
storytelling, readings, and autograph sessions.
(Right: First Lady of Texas Laura Bush, who was presented the 1997
TLA Project of the Year Award for her work with the Texas Book Festival,
with Kathryn McMurray, director of the Val Verde County Library in Del Rio,
a recipeint of a first annual Texas Book Festival Grant.)
Benefactor Awards
Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Pearce Jr. of Corsicana, and the Pi Beta Phi Houston
Alumnae Club are the recipients of the 1997 TLA Benefactor Awards. The Pearces
were recognized for their donation of a valuable collection of Civil War
documents to the Gaston T. Gooch Learning Center at Navarro College in Corsicana.
Pi Beta Phi Houston Alumnae Club was honored for establishing and operating
a children’s library in the Texas Children’s Hospital.
The Pearce Collection is an extraordinary assemblage of Civil War letters, signatures, photographs, and papers from many of the principal figures of the war including Lincoln, Davis, Lee, and Grant. The Pi Beta Phi Houston Alumnae Club opened a library in the Texas Children’s Hospital in 1984. Since then, the Club has contributed more than $160,000 to the operating fund and more than $145,000 to the Pi Beta Phi Children’s Library Endowment Fund.
The TLA Benefactor Awards are presented annually in recognition of outstanding,
unique, or significant gifts to Texas libraries.
Other Awards
Siddie Joe Johnson Award
Rose Trevino, San Antonio Public Library
Texas/SIRS Intellectual Freedom Award
Mary Ellen Scribner, Westwood HS, Round Rock ISD
Small Community Librarian of the Year Award
Denise Carter, Maffett Memorial Library, Groesbeck
School Library Administrator of the Year
Bill Fish, Lee HS, San Antonio
James Love Award
Liberty Municipal Library