Two longtime Employees Win 2017 Library Leadership Faculty and Staff Awards

University of Alabama Libraries has named Mary S. Alexander and Brock Tyra as the recipients of the 2017 Library Leadership Faculty and Staff Awards.

Alexander and Tyra were each given $2,000, presented with a framed certificate at the Library Leadership Board luncheon in April and had their names added to the Library Leadership plaque displayed in Gorgas Library.

“This is our 17^th year,” said Donna Adcock, director of public relations for University Libraries. “Mary S. Alexander and Brock Tyra were nominated and chosen by a committee for their contributions.

“This is a pretty big award in the Libraries. It’s a big deal.”

The award is given to full-time library faculty and staff who have demonstrated “truly outstanding professional contributions” to UA’s Libraries or to the field of librarianship, according to the UA Library Leadership Board Awards policies and procedures.

Alexander is the faculty award winner. She is coordinator of metadata and has been a metadata librarian at UA for 24 years.

“She has served on numerous committees in the University Libraries and across campus,” said Dr. Donald L. Gilstrap, dean of University Libraries. “Alexander was recently selected to represent the University Libraries for SHARE, a national partnership between the Association of Research Libraries and the Center for Open Science.”

Tyra, winner of the staff award, is the student supervisor for the circulation department. He has been with University Libraries for a decade.

“To many Gorgas Library patrons, Tyra is a visible presence at the circulation desk,” Gilstrap said. “In addition to supervising the student employees, he goes out of his way to help students, faculty, community users and fellow employees with his computer expertise finding a myriad of library resources available to them.”