Herrera Elected PLA President-Elect
For Immediate Release
Contact: Brendan Dowling
June 2002
1-800-545-2433, ext. 5021
Luis Herrera, Director of the Information Services Department for the City of Pasadena, has been elected Vice-President/President-elect of the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). He will assume office at the end of the 2002 ALA Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
Herrera brings a wealth of experience in librarianship to his position as PLA President-Elect. Prior to assuming his current position in Pasadena, he was the Deputy Director of the San Diego Public Library and has also served in public library management in Long Beach, California and El Paso, Texas. Herrera is also a former middle school librarian.
When asked for plans for his presidency, Herrera remarked, "In its new strategic plan, PLA membership envisions the library card as the most valued card in every wallet. As president, a top priority will be to lead the association in ensuring not only this vision, but to strengthen public libraries and their contribution to the communities they serve. This is consistent with my vision of promoting public libraries as innovative and dynamic organizations working in partnership with communities to enhance the quality of life in the 21st Century."
Active in ALA since the early 1980s, Herrera has served on numerous PLA committees as well as been active in several other ALA divisions. During this time he has also been involved with several other professional groups, serving as the President of the California Library Association, a Council member of the American Library Association, and Board member of the Public Library Association. He is past president of REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library Service to the Spanish Speaking and is a former recipient of the REFORMA Librarian of the Year award. Most recently, Herrera was a keynote speaker in London, England at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Conference on the People's Network, a technology initiative providing public access computing in libraries throughout the United Kingdom. Herrera holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Texas at El Paso and a Master of Library Science degree from the University of Arizona. He also earned a Master of Public Administration degree from California State University, Long Beach where he received the Future Urban Administrator Award.
For more information, contact the PLA office, 50 East Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Telephone: 800-545-2433, ext. 5PLA.
Staffing for Results Available at ALA Annual Conference
Staffing For Results: A Guide to Working Smarter
Diane Mayo and Jeanne Goodrich for the Public Library Association (PLA)
How long does it take to...catalog a book? This latest entry in the PLA
Results series will help you to answer that question and others you have
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Using common public library tasks as the context, Staffing for Results
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Giving you tools from the experts of PLA to get the job done, this indispensable guide will help you to show and prove results! "Staffing For Results" is available from the ALA Online Store, www.alastore.ala.org or by calling the ALA order department at 1-866-746-7252. Price: $42.00 -192 pages - 8.5" X 11" - Softcover - ISBN: 0-8389-0826-8 - ALA Order #: 0826-8-2233
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