The following is an announcement from the Houston Public Library:
Houston - The Houston Public Library is proud to announce the appointment of Susan Kaufman as the new manager for the Clayton Library, Center for Genealogical Research. Ms. Kaufman will be bringing twenty years of genealogical librarianship experience, including 6 years at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which is the nation's largest public genealogical library. Currently, she is manager of the Houston Public Library Jungman Branch, and is expected to begin her new position the first week of August.
Ms. Kaufman has been involved in genealogical librarianship and genealogical societies since 1987. She offers expertise in genealogical/ historical reference, collection development, and educational outreach. Her collection development skills include being able to acquire one-of-a-kind resources, government documents and other hard to find research materials. Her tenacious attitude toward collection development led to an increase in the Jewish collection by more than 500 titles for the Allen County Public Library. She has worked with local, state and national genealogical societies both as a board member and as a presenter at conferences. Currently, she is a director for the nationally recognized Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) board. She has also been selected as this year's Co-Chair for the FGS National Conference being held in Boston. This annual conference will take place in August 2006.
Ms Kaufman says, "I have some great ideas that I would like to implement as manager of the Clayton Library. These include working with the Clayton Library Friends in the renovation of the Clayton House, creating an index for materials housed at Clayton, and providing highly effective customer service. I would also like to increase outreach and programming locally, statewide, and nationally. As a committed library professional, it would also be a great opportunity for me to increase the national presences of the Houston Public Library and the Clayton Library through speaking engagements, as well as workshops and conferences."
Houston Public Library Director Dr. Rhea Brown Lawson stated, "We are very fortunate to have found just the right person, with the highest caliber of expertise in genealogy to manage the Houston Public Library's Clayton Library. With her leadership, the Clayton Library is expected to expand its diverse collections, provide extraordinary customer service, equitable access to information, and enhance its programming and outreach services."
Kaufman has a Masters degree in Library Information Science from the Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Administration of Justice from Southern Illinois University, where she also took graduate courses in Sociology and Library Science. Throughout her career, Kaufman has lectured on various genealogy topics and has received several awards and honors including the Chester A. Bowser Educational Scholarship from the Elgin Genealogical Society in Elgin, Illinois. In 1998, she was awarded an internship at the National Archives Great Lakes Region in Chicago.
Clayton Library, Center for Genealogical Research contains a non-circulating collection that includes: family histories, county histories, state and local records, lineages of various patriotic societies, books on methods of general research, plus federal and some state census records from 1790-1930. Also available are passenger records, federal military records and records from foreign countries. Family Tree Magazine has recognized Clayton Library as one of the top 10 public libraries in the nation for genealogy research.
For further information call the Houston Public Library at 832-393-1313 or visit the Web site at www.houstonlibrary.org.
