“With only six library directors in a century, we don't name them often so we know we have to pick the best,” said Mayor Bill White during her nomination. “We think we've done just that. Houston has more libraries open than ever before and we feel we have chosen someone who can help us meet the challenges of the future for urban libraries, with efficiency and customer service as our highest priorities.”
“I am thrilled to be joining Mayor Bill White’s team here in Houston,” responded Lawson. “ The Houston Public Library is a great library with a great team located in a great city! I am anxious to begin actualizing my vision to make the Houston Public Library the best there is…period. The staff and I will achieve this vision through providing broad and timely access to diverse, customer-centered programs, services and resources; ensuring that the library has effective and efficient operation; and through the provision of exceptional customer service that more than exceeds the expectations of our users.”
Dr. Lawson holds a BA in political science from Morgan State University in Baltimore, a Masters in Library and Information Science from the University of Maryland-College Park, and a PhD in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
She has been responsible for the strategic planning process in the Detroit Library system and has helped lead such initiatives as Detroit's first annual book festival and a multi-agency task force to combat Detroit's high illiteracy rate. She serves on the Public Library Association board of directors, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association's executive board and is past president of the New York Black Librarian's Caucus. In addition, Dr. Lawson has been involved in a number of community activities, including serving on Federal Reserve Bank's Money Smart advisory board and the Center for Black Literature advisory board at Medgar Evers College.
Dr. Lawson was born in South Carolina and grew up in Baltimore, Md. She has a daughter, Ebony, 23, who is a graduate student.
The Houston Public Library started out as one library building, the first public library in Houston, on March 2, 1904, at the corner of McKinney and Travis. Throughout the previous century, it has expanded from a single location downtown serving 66,113 people into a library system that includes a Central Library complex, which also houses the Houston Metropolitan Research Center and the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, 36 branch locations, and one library branch operating jointly with Harris County and one cooperative library in partnership with the Children's Museum of Houston. Although the Library has evolved into the historical institution it is today, its intentions have remained the same, to continue its strong commitment to providing diverse services and programs in response to the community's needs.
For more information, please call the Houston Public Library at 832.393.1313 or visit www.houstonlibrary.org.