The Texas Library Association (TLA) announced recently that Israel Favela, Collection Development and Cataloging Manager at Houston Public Library (HPL), was elected Representative-at-Large, Public Libraries. Favela will take office at the close of the 2024 TLA Annual Conference in April in San Antonio.
Favela has been active in TLA for many years, serving as a member of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Conference Programming Committee, District 8 Programming Subcommittee and Local Arrangements Committee. He also has been an officer of the Latino Caucus Round Table and Queers & Allies Round Table. Favela is a 2019 graduate of the TALL Texans Leadership Development Institute.
“I am deeply honored and grateful to have been selected for this position by my peers. I will proudly represent and advocate for public libraries while on TLA’s Executive Board. Libraries have played an important part in my life for as long as I can remember, and TLA in particular has been instrumental in my growth as a librarian; I am looking forward to continuing to work with and on behalf of TLA members to advance the profession and develop the library leaders of tomorrow,” said Favela.
Favela received his Master of Library Science from the University of North Texas. He has more than 10 years of experience as a librarian, beginning as a Circulation Assistant at Harris County Public Library. He joined Houston Public Library as the Collection Development and Cataloging Manager in 2021. In addition to his work in libraries, Favela is also on the Board of Trustees for his alma mater, Chinquapin Preparatory School, a boarding and day school that serves academically motivated students in grades 6 through 12 from Houston’s under-resourced communities and schools.