Loriene Roy

Loriene Roy is an American scholar of Indigenous librarianship, professor and librarian from Texas. She was the first Native American president of the American Library Association when she was inaugurated in 2007.

Biography

Background and education

Loriene Roy was born and raised in rural towns bordering the Fond du Lac Reservation in northern Minnesota. She is Anishinabe, a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, and is enrolled on the White Earth Reservation. Roy received a Master's degree in Library Science from the University of Arizona and received her Doctorate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Career

Roy joined the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin in 1987, where she teaches in the School of Information and the Center for Women's and Gender Studies. public libraries, and measurement and evaluation of library services. becoming the first Native American President of the ALA.

Roy outlined three main platform issues when she became President: supporting literacy, promoting LIS education through practice, and creating programs for workplace wellness. To help fulfill these goals, she formed working circles in place of traditional task forces, bringing a greater element of inclusivity and community to the work of the presidency.

Indigenous Librarianship

Roy is an advocate for Indigenous librarianship.

The United Nations celebrated the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, 1995–2005. The first international forum of information professionals of Indigenous heritage was held in Auckland, New Zealand/Aotearoa, 1–4 November 1999: "affirming the knowledge and values of Indigenous peoples in the age of information" (Toi te kupu, toi te mana, toi te whenua). Roy documented this forum, "The International Indigenous Librarians' Forum: A Professional Life-Affirming Event" She identified the impact of IT on Indigenous people at the beginning of the digital era.

Roy was Convener on Indigenous Matters for the International Federation of Library Associations in 2008–2009. She edited the issue, "Indigenous Library Services", for the journal, World Libraries. Roy has characterized her work with Indigenous information services as an "evolving ecology –a system of balances and negotiation."

Roy is an advocate of the advancement of library and information services to Indigenous people and her lecture,"As Long as the Rivers Flow: Continuing Efforts to Support and Advance Services with and for Indigenous Peoples," was presented at the International Indigenous Librarians' Forum in Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand in 2019.

The International Federation of Library Associations volume Indigenous Notions of Ownership and Libraries, Archives and Museums. for which Roy was editor, included her essay, "Who is Indigenous?".

Awards

Roy has received many professional awards, including the 2006 American Library Association 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.

Roy was selected as a member of the Inaugural Cohort of The University of Texas at Austin, Provost's Distinguished Service Academy, 2020–2025.