Loriene Roy
(b. June 12, 1954)
Loriene Roy is current president of the American Library Association. The eldest of eight children, she is enrolled on the White Earth Reservation as a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. She earned a master’s degree in library science from the University of Arizona and worked as a reference librarian at the Yuma City-County Public Library. While pursuing a doctorate degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she worked in the Library Research Center. In 1987, she joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin where she teaches in the School of Information and the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies.
Prior to her inauguration as the 2007-2008 ALA president, Roy held a number of positions in the organization. She was elected ALA councilor-at-large for two terms, 1997-2000 and 2004-2006. She served on a number of ALA Council Committees, including the Committee on Education, Committee on Committees, Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship and Nominating Committee, as well as on the ALA Presidential Advisory Boards or Task Forces for ALA Presidents Sarah A. Long, John W. Berry and Carla Hayden. She held appointments on ALA Division Committees for the Association for Library Service to Children, Public Library Association and Reference and User Services Association; committees for the International Relations Round Table and the Steering Committee for the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color.
Roy serves on the advisory boards and committees for El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros, the International Children's Digital Library, the Sequoyah Research Center and WebJunction.org. Her work is centered on developing and promoting library services and cultural heritage initiatives with and for indigenous populations. She founded and directs "If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything," a national reading club for Native American children and "Honoring Generations," a graduate scholarship program for indigenous students funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Roy has received a number of professional awards, including the 2006 ALA Equality Award; 2007 Library Journal "Mover & Shaker"; Outstanding 2002 Alumna from the University of Arizona’s School of Information Resources and Library Services; the Joe and Bettie Branson Ward Excellence Award for Research, Teaching, or Demonstration Activities that Contribute to Changes of Positive Value to Society; two Texas Exes Teaching Awards and two James W. Vick Texas Excellence Awards for Academic Advisors.