Beginning this May, Gloria Colvin (MSLS '80) will become the new president of the Florida Library Association (FLA). In that capacity, she will be charged with overseeing the progress and strategic planning of the 800 plus member organization, which is the state chapter of the American Library Association. FLA advocates for Florida libraries with the state's decision makers and policy makers; provides continuing education opportunities for librarians, library staff, Friends, Boards & Trustees; assists Florida libraries facing challenges to intellectual freedom; and offers members opportunities for networking, collaboration and leadership.
Her upcoming presidency is not the first opportunity Colvin has had to be a leader in professional librarianship. In 2001, she served as the North Florida Library Association's president. From 2008 until the present, Colvin has also chaired the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Behavioral Sciences Higher Education Committee.
In addition to these positions of leadership, she has served on ACRL's Marketing in Academic Libraries Committee, as an at-large board member of the Florida Library Association (FLA), as the communications coordinator for the FLA and as the editor of Florida Libraries.
Colvin is currently a research librarian in the Scholars Commons at Florida State University, where she serves as a liaison from the FSU Libraries to the FSU College of Education and works closely with faculty and graduate students. Instrumental in the planning and implementation of the Scholars Commons at FSU, Colvin worked closely with other FSU librarians to help make it a reality. Her responsibilities in the Scholars Commons include research consultations, presentations to classes and groups of researchers, collection development and research support. Colvin also coordinates the liaison program for the FSU Libraries, helping establish partnerships between the Libraries and other campus units. Some of her many accomplishments include initiating a faculty delivery service, leading the FSU Libraries' strategic planning process and beginning scholarly communication initiatives.
Prior to beginning her career in librarianship, Colvin received her B.A. and M.A.T. at Duke University and taught in North Carolina's Gaston County and Cumberland County Schools.
