Martha Alvarado Anderson selected as 2023 Lois Ann Gregory-Wood (LAGW) Fellow

The American Library Association has selected ALA Member Martha Alvarado Anderson as the 2023 Lois Ann Gregory-Wood (LAGW) Fellow.  Alvarado Anderson will receive a stipend totaling $2,500 to off-set the cost of attending the ALA 2023 Annual Conference in Chicago and the 2024 LibLearnX experience in Baltimore.

Alvarado Anderson is Director of DEIA and Head of Digital Services Department at David W. Mullins Library, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. She holds an M. A. from University of Arkansas in Spanish & M.L.I.S. from University of North Carolina at Greensboro, as well as B.A. from Queens University of Charlotte in Business Administration/People Management & B.A. from Normal Miguel F. Martínez, Monterrey, Mexico in Elementary Education. For ALA, Anderson is also a member of ACRL, EDI Assembly and International Relations Round Table, working with numerous committees within those groups.

Alvarado Anderson noted “service has been one of my priorities throughout my careers. From elementary educator to business executive, and now an academic librarian; service, life-long learning, and contributing to the organizations I belong to is simply part of how I live my life.” She noted interest in the LAGW Fellowship to learn more about ALA governance to “contribute to the ALA in a higher capacity…I am enticed by the idea of having a mentor to navigate the ALA governance meetings. The knowledge gained during these experiences will aid me in serving better the ALA.”

The Fellowship was conceived in honor of Lois Ann Gregory-Wood, who worked at ALA for fifty years, and for 27 of those years, served as the ALA Council Secretariat. For thousands of ALA members, she was the face of ALA Council and governance. After 50 years of service to ALA, Gregory-Wood retired in 2018. The Lois Ann Gregory-Wood Fellows Program is a mid-career conference scholarship program which celebrates Gregory-Wood’s leadership and accomplishments, as well as seeks to encourage understanding and participation in the ALA governance processes.

The 2023 LAGW selection committee is ALA Members Tamika Barnes, Terri Grief, Caitlin Moen, Robert Newlen, Ann Symons, Courtney Young, and Jim Neal, Chair.

For more information on the Lois Ann Gregory-Wood Fellows Program, visit the LAGW award page.