Heather Gallegos-Rex for Director
Heather Gallegos-Rex is Director of Library Development Services for the state of New Mexico where she leads a team responsible for training and consulting in best library management practices (1996-present).
Past Employment: Librarian Senior with the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department and the Alliance for Transportation Research (1992-96); Head of Map and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC), Centennial Science and Engineering Library, University of New Mexico (1988-92); Map Room Manager with Government Publications and Maps Department (1981-88), University of New Mexico Zimmerman Library; Clerical Specialist Government Publication and Maps, University of New Mexico Zimmerman Library (1979-81).
Education: M.L.S., University of Arizona (1990); M.A. Geography, University of New Mexico (1989); High Performance Teams Management Skills Training, University of New Mexico (1990).
SLA Member Since: 1992
SLA Chapter Activities: Rio Grande Chapter: past president (1996-97); president (1995-96); president-elect and program chair (1994-95); strategic planning chair (1997-present); government relations chair (1999-present) Regional Activities: Planning Committee (1994-96) for Southwest Regional Conference, Albuquerque, NM Oct.30-Nov.2, 1996 and Local Arrangements Committee (1995-96).
SLA Division Activities: Transportation Division: member (1992-96); Library Management Division: member (1997-present).
SLA Association Level Activities: DACOLT session discussion leader 1995 Annual Conference; Government Affairs and Intellectual Property Committee, 1999-2002.
Other Professional Activities: American Library Association (1984-92, 1996-present) Map and Geography Round Table (MAGERT) Secretary (1985-89); MAGERT Membership Committee (1984-90). Western Association of Map Libraries, (1984-92), New Mexico contributing editor to Information Bulletin (1987-92); New Mexico Geographic Information Council (1984-94), Chair Public Awareness and Education Committee (1985-94). Board of Directors (1992-94); New Mexico Library Association (1984-present); Mountain Plains Library Association (1999-present).
Publications/Presentations (selected): "Exploration as Odyssey: the Mapping of Carlsbad Caverns National Park," In Exploration and Mapping of the National Parks. Jenny Marie Johnson, ed. Winnetka, IL: Speculum Orbis Press, 1994. Seavey, Charles A. and Heather F. Rex, "Users and geographic area of interest in an academic map collection: 1983-1989: implications for collection development," Meridian, no. 7, 1992. "A Value Study Model for a State Agency" presented to NM state agency librarians (March 1996) and Legislative Research Librarians of the National Conference of State Legislatures (October 1997). Sourcebook for New Mexico Geographic Information, New Mexico Geographic Information Council, 1991. Numerous book reviews, software reviews, and newsletter articles in local and national publications (1985-present).
On the Questions:
What are the keys to the growth of the information profession, its stature and its image?
We the practioners are the keys to the growth of the information profession. The specific qualities we need to grow our profession, its stature and its image are flexibility, passion, creativity, care, and extreme pro-activity. While most of our services may be client-driven, we must also be flexible enough to be client-defined to a large extent. Although we come into our organizations with a set of well-known skills, we must passionately promote the creative possibilities of utilizing our skills in non-traditional ways and displaying skills not so well known. We must show the value-added benefits and the bottom line good sense that comes of making information professionals strategic partners. If we will leap pro-actively into parts of organizations not considered "library territory," we will change perceptions, we will increase stature, and we will insure the future of the profession.
What is your vision for the association during your time in office, and what legacy would you like to leave behind? What is your strategy to implement this vision?
I am an SLA believer; I love and whole-heartedly support this remarkable association. If I would be fortunate enough to be a Director, I would like to see the association actively promote its benefits to information professionals everywhere who may not see SLA as pertinent to them or their careers. There are many who believe they must work in a special library to benefit from SLA membership. They are unaware that SLA International is the premier global organization for professional development and their best bet in a professional organization. I would work with SLA colleagues to grow membership among multi-type librarians and other information professionals through partnerships, shared meetings, and through direct marketing and promotional campaigns. I would like my legacy to one of eucumenical growth and progress toward the commonalities in our future.
Explain a career-related accomplishment and how its outcome will relate to your success on the board of directors.
In the current phase of my twenty-year career, Director of Library Development Services for the state, I lead a six-member team that promotes excellence in New Mexico libraries through training, consulting, advising, resource-sharing, marketing, and funding. We design and librarians from multi-type libraries attend over a dozen annual library management workshops as well as the hugely-successful biennial Library Leadership Institute. My success on the SLA board of directors would be served by the collaborative and administrative experience I've gained through 1) partnering with hundreds of colleague librarians and public officials across the country, 2) creating dozens of effective leadership opportunities for librarians in the state, and 3) putting together and administering a high-energy, highly-committed team of professionals.
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