Lotsee Patterson, Ph.D., professor in the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Oklahoma, was born and raised in rural southwestern Oklahoma. A member of the Comanche Nation, she credits her experience growing up in Indian country with developing her passion for libraries and library services for Native Americans. She is a recipient of the Oklahoma Library Association’s highest honor receiving their Distinguished Service Award and being designated by this association as a Library Legend. Patterson has also been honored for her work with tribal libraries and for recruiting and mentoring American Indian librarians by the American Library Association. Patterson’s research interestsfocus on library and information services to indigenous populations. In this context she has been an invited presenter at symposia and conferences throughout the United States and in Sweden, New Zealand, Ukraine and Canada. She has been a visiting scholar at the University of British Columbia and a visiting lecturer at the University of Maryland. She has served as consultant to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Studies, as well as many universities, publishers and organizations. Most recently she was a senior advisor to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
The National Museum and Library Services Board (NMLSB) is a twenty-four member advisory body that includes the IMLS director and deputy directors for libraries and museums, the chair of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, and twenty presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed members of the general public who have demonstrated expertise in, or commitment to, library or museum services. Informed by its collective experience and knowledge, the NMLSB advises the IMLS director on general policy and practices, and on selections for the National Awards for Museum and Library Services. For more information about the National Museum and Library Services Board visit the Institute’s Web site at www.imls.gov/about/board.shtm.