Posted March 31, 2009
Contact: Steve Zalusky
Manager of Communications,
ALA Public Information Office
(312) 280-1546
szalusky@ala.org
NEWS
For Immediate Release,
March 31, 2009
Figueroa new director of ALA Office for Diversity
CHICAGO – Miguel A. Figueroa has been named the new director of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Diversity.
Figueroa, network services coordinator, National Network of Libraries of Medicine Middle Atlantic Region (NYULMC), at the Ehrman Medical Library, New York University Langone Medical Center, will begin his new duties with ALA May 5.
In his current position, he works with hundreds of librarians in more than 800 libraries across a four-state region to market the services of the National Library of Medicine.
Figueroa is an active member of ALA and the Special Libraries Association (SLA). A frequent presenter at conferences, he has been a presenter at ALA’s Spectrum Institute, the Emporia Diversity Leadership Institute and the 6th Institute of the Trejo Foundation for Hispanic Library Education.
He is co-editor of the book “Staff Development Strategies That Work!: Stories and Strategies from New Librarians” (Neal-Schuman, 2008).
Prior to his tenure at NYULMC, he was associate director of publishing (promoted from assistant director) for Neal-Schuman Publishers, where he managed the acquisitions process.
Figueroa’s contributions to Neal-Schuman included planning and designing marketing materials. He also developed multimedia book components and companion Web pages, coordinated exhibits and represented the company at dozens of regional and national conferences.
Figueroa graduated in 2003 graduate from the Knowledge River Program, part of the School of Information Resources and Library Science at the University of Arizona (Tucson), with a strong focus on the impact of diversity on libraries and library services.
While completing his M.A., he served as Udall Fellow at the University of Arizona Library Special Collections. In addition to maintaining archival collections, he curated a national touring exhibit from the collections of Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall. He received a double BA – English and History – from the College of Liberal Arts and the Barrett Honors College, Arizona State University (Tempe) in 2002.
The ALA offers thanks to Ismail Abdullahi [North Carolina Central University], chair of the ALA Committee on Diversity; Satia Marshall Orange, director, ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services; and, Cynthia Vivian, director, ALA Human Resources, for their work on a successful search. Thanks also to Gwendolyn Prellwitz, interim director of the Office for Diversity, and Rob Gould, administrative assistant, for their outstanding support of the Spectrum program and other services during the past months.
