by Adam Lord with Michelle Riggs Waller
Martha Dauzat, LSUA’s Bolton Library Services and Outreach Manager, has been awarded the Excellence in Library Support Award that recognizes a library support staff member who is a helpful leader within his or her library and within the LOUIS Consortium.
In her time at LSUA’s Bolton Library, Dauzat has helped transform the library space. She has brought an innovative approach to engaging students and guests through creative programming and informative displays.
LSUA’s Interim Director and Archivist Michelle Riggs Waller said, “Her physical exhibits and her programming ideas are wildly popular on campus, eliciting faculty and staff participation. Simply, Bolton Library has an outreach program due solely to Martha Dauzat. She never stops finding ways to promote the library, make it accessible and user-friendly, engage with students, collaborate with departments, and put into practice the ideas she gathers from professional engagement and her graduate library program. She makes working at Bolton Library fun and exciting.”
The Bolton Library’s online presence has expanded under Dauzat’s leadership. She, along with library staff and a host of student workers, is active on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. She makes patrons excited to #BookItToBolton.
Some inventive programming Dauzat has brought to the library include Women’s History Month posters and bookmarks, the popular haiku contest, and the summer reading challenge. Often, patrons are surprised to find fun ways of interacting with the library staff without checking out books, like putt-putt in the library and the International Education Week scavenger hunt. This month, you can check out the two-sentence horror story contest currently running throughout October.
Another incredible opportunity Dauzat has created to educate and engage students is the development of virtual displays on the library’s website. These curated pages invite patrons into topics with images, videos, further reading, and even a place for visitors to leave their thoughts. Dauzat has curated virtual experiences on Women’s Suffrage, Native American Heritage, Black History Month, and more. You can view the complete collection of virtual displays at https://lsua.libguides.com/
Photo credit – LSUA Division of Strategic Communications
