FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2004

WASHINGTON, DC - On June 23, 2004, President Bush announced his intention to nominate seven individuals to serve as members of the National Museum and Library Services Board. (See the White House Web site at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/06/20040623-11.html.) These nominees will be presented to the United States Senate for consideration. Nominations to the Board require Senate confirmation.

The 20-member Board advises the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), an independent federal agency that is a primary source of federal funds for the nation's museums and libraries. Board members also make recommendations for the National Award for Museum and Library Service, the nation's highest honor for extraordinary public service provided by these institutions.

Board members are selected for their broad knowledge of, expertise in, or commitment to museums and libraries. For a list of current board members, please see the IMLS Web site at http://www.imls.gov/about/abt_nmlsb.htm. Brief biographies of today's nominees follow:

BEVERLY E. ALLEN (Marietta, Georgia)
Beverly E. Allen, MSLS, is the Director of the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) Multi-Media Center. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and her master of library science degree from Syracuse University. In 1976, she joined the faculty of MSM, where her charge was to develop a health sciences library for a new medial school, including all aspects of planning, implementation, management, operation, and personnel. Allen has served as a past Regent of the National Library of Medicine and is a member of several professional organizations, including the Medical Library Association, American Association of Health Sciences Libraries, American Library Association, and AAMC Group for Information Resources.

During her tenure at Morehouse School of Medicine, Allen has served on many faculty and administrative committees, including the Admissions Committee, Student Academic Progress and Promotion Committee, Faculty Appointment and Promotion Committee, By-Laws Committee, and Curriculum Committee. She was a member of the Georgia to Georgia Partnership Team that traveled to the Republic of Georgia to aid in the setup and operation of medical libraries. Allen is an avid traveler and reader who enjoys classical music. Allen will be retiring from the Morehouse School of Medicine June 30, 2004.

GAIL M. DALY (Dallas, Texas)
Gail M. Daly is Associate Dean for Library and Technology and Associate Professor of Law at Southern Methodist University's Dedman School of Law. Professor Daly was formerly the Associate Director of the University of Minnesota Law School Library, and served as Visiting Associate for Law with the Research Libraries Group in Mountain View, California. She has been active in the American Bar Association, the Association of American Law Schools, and the American Association of Law Libraries, and has held various committee appointments with those organizations, as well as serving on a number of law school accreditation teams. She has taught in the areas of intellectual property, legal research and writing, and law library management. Professor Daly received a bachelor's degree in education and a master of library science degree from the University of Michigan, and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota.

DONALD S. LESLIE (Hudson, Wisconsin)
As the Industry and Government Business Manager for 3M Library Systems, Don Leslie has been actively involved in the library industry for the past 16 years. Leslie has spearheaded numerous projects and workshops aimed at improving the way libraries market their services to their customers. He is also active in the American Library Association (ALA), and was instrumental in the establishment of the ALA Vendor Alliance, a group of corporate sponsors who advocate for libraries. He is currently a member of the ALA Committee on Legislation. He is also a member of the American Association of School Libraries (AASL) Alliance, the International Federation of Library Associations Vendor Council, and the national library board of Drake University, and is a participant in the "@ your library" task forces of AASL, Association of College and Research Libraries, and the Minnesota Library Association. Leslie was instrumental in the formation of the 3M/AASL Salute to Schools Grant Program, which, in the past four years, has provided $5.5 M in book security systems to needy secondary schools throughout the United States. He earned his bachelor's degree from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and his master's degree in business administration from the Wharton School of Business and Commerce, University of Pennsylvania

AMY OWEN (Holladay, Utah)
Amy Owen served as Director of the Utah State Library, a division of the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development, from 1987 to 2003. Her professional activities have included service as President of the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies, President of the Board of Trustees for the Bibliographical Center for Research, President of the Utah Library Association, President of the Western Council of State Libraries, member of the Board of Directors of the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, and Chair of the Utah Humanities Council. She was a joint author of Planning and Role Setting for Public Libraries: A Manual of Options and Procedures (American Library Association, 1987). She was involved for a number of years in the committee work that led to the establishment of the Federal-State Cooperative System for public library statistics sponsored by the National Center for Educational Statistics.

Owen is being honored this June by the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies with the association's prestigious Professional Achievement Award. This citation is presented for professional achievement in the areas of consulting, networking, statewide services, and programs. Her past honors include the MPLA Distinguished Service Award; the BYU College of Humanities, Honors Alumni Award; the Library Journal "Librarian of the Year" Award for 1991; and three awards from the Utah Library Association--the Special Recognition Award for 1991, the 1992 Librarian of the Year Award, and the Distinguished Service Award in 2003.

Under her leadership, the Utah State Library Division also achieved recognition: the 1995 National Information Infrastructure Award, Government Category, for the Utah Library Network Initiative, linking Utah's public libraries to the Internet; the 1997 Governor's/Chief Information Officer's Award, for the creation of PIONEER: Utah's Online Library for bringing high-quality Internet resources to libraries throughout the state; and in 2003, the Governor's/Chief Information Officer's Award, for excellence in improving access to government information; for RSS development, support, and implementation; and for LiveChat support for the state Web site.

SANDRA PICKETT (Liberty, Texas)
Sandra Pickett is Commissioner and Chair of the Texas State Library & Archives Commission. She is also President of the Atascosito Historical Society. From 1974 to 1998, Pickett served as Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem of the City of Liberty. She has served as Chairman of the Liberty County Historical Commission and is a past Director and President of Preservation Texas. Picket served on the Board of Directors for the National League of Cities as well as the Texas Association of Regional Councils. She is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Chamber of Commerce 1981 Citizen of the Year, the 1993 John Ben Shepperd Leadership Award from the Texas Historical Commission, and the 1998 Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow. Pickett received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Texas and a master of arts degree from the University of Houston.

RENEE BECKER SWARTZ (Rumson, New Jersey)
Renee Becker Swartz, a national library advocate for the past 38 years, began her career in public service as a volunteer with the Friends of the Monmouth County Library. She was subsequently appointed to the Monmouth County Library Commission in 1966, and has served as Chairperson since 1976, overseeing library services to over six hundred thousand residents.

Through appointments by the past four Governors of the State of New Jersey, she has chaired the New Jersey State Library Advisory Council since 1986. For the past 22 years she has served as Chairperson of the Board of the School of Communications, Information and Library Studies at Rutgers University.

In 2000, she founded and serves as the Chairperson of the New Jersey Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Library of Congress.

Nationally, Swartz chaired the New Jersey delegations to both the 1979 and 1991 White House Conferences on Library and Information Services, and she has served as the permanent New Jersey member of the White House Conference Task Force since 1979. She served on the American Library Association's National Office of Information Technology Policy Advisory Board from 1995 to 1999. She was a Trustee of Barnard College from 1981 to 1985 and National President of the Barnard Alumnae Association from 1981 to 1984. In 1991, she was honored as the National Trustee of the Year by the American Library Association.

Swartz has been in the forefront of library development on the local, state, and national levels and is recognized as a leading advocate of the concept of the library as a community center and for promoting innovative and consumer-friendly library service in our nation. She is a graduate of Barnard College and was the recipient of the Columbia Medal for Outstanding Alumnae Achievement in 1985.

KIM WANG (Torrance, California)
Kim Wang is a graduate of the University of Colorado with a history major; she received her master of library science degree from the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked for the Los Angeles County Law Library, University of Southern California Law Library, and Hughes Aircraft Technical Library. Wang was a Parks and Recreation Commissioner and Planning Commission member for the city of Rancho Palos Verdes, and presently sits on the Cultural Arts Commission for the City of Torrance, California. She was appointed by former Governor Pete Wilson to serve on the California Library Services Board (which was renamed Library of California) and re-appointed by him. For the past 20 years, Wang has worked as a property manager and real estate broker.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent Federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities. The Institute fosters leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning by supporting the nation's 15,000 museums and 122,000 libraries. The Institute also encourages partnerships to expand the educational benefit of libraries and museums. To learn more about the Institute, please log onto: http://www.imls.gov