Texas Library Association Elects 2022-2023 Executive Board
The TLA Executive Board met and verified the results of the election which was conducted via Survey & Ballot (a secure, third-party election platform which TLA has used in the past) and is confident in the integrity of the results.
Congratulations to the winners of our recent election and thank you to all of the candidates. The Texas Library Association is pleased to announce the new members of our executive board. TLA’s new executive board members, including incoming President Mary Woodard, Director of Library Services at Mesquite ISD, will take office at the close of the TLA 2022 Annual Conference.
Gretchen Pruett, Director of the New Braunfels Public Library, is President-Elect.
“The library’s role in our communities as the source of credible and relevant information is being eroded by the continuing onslaught of misinformation. When the information-seeking public needed us the most, the unprecedented pandemic closed our doors. We are still recovering, and we must speak with a unified voice to be heard above the noise.
The Texas Library Association is that voice for all our state libraries — it is local, it is relevant, and it amplifies members’ concerns to the stakeholders of Texas libraries and the people they serve. I have advocated for libraries and TLA throughout my career — and I will be honored to continue this work as president-elect. Libraries are more relevant than ever before to build strong communities and citizens.”
Melissa Rippy, Director of Libraries & Instructional Materials, Pasadena ISD, is Representative-at-Large (School)
“School librarians continue to struggle with imbalances in access, budgets and staffing in schools across Texas during a pandemic, reduced budgets, and virtual learning. Now more than ever before, we need a supportive community for those facing similar obstacles. TLA and TASL have the ability to help make connections among librarians so that they are able to work together to find solutions to these common obstacles while still meeting the various needs of students and teachers. The pandemic has changed the way that we interact with each other in our world; as a “living” organization, TLA has the opportunity to adapt and evolve so that it may serve as a source of community and guidance meeting the needs of all librarians.”