People in the News


C&RL News March 2016 162

Ed. note: To ensure that your personnel news is 
considered for publication, write to Ann-Christe 
Galloway, production editor, C&RL News, 50 E. Huron 
St., Chicago, IL 60611-2795; email: agalloway@
ala.org; fax: (312) 280-2520.

Retirements

Tobeylynn Birch has retired from Loyola Mary-
mount University (LMU), where she served fi rst 
as head of acquisitions and serials (2007–09) and 
then as associate dean of the William H. Hannon 
Library. Prior to LMU, she was the director of 
the Los Angeles Campus Library of the Califor-
nia School of Professional Psychology/Alliant 
International University and university librarian. 
Birch was also active in EBSS (2000–11), serving 
on the Instruction for Educators, Psychology/
Psychiatry, 2008 Program Planning, and Mem-
bership and Organization committees.

Deaths

Michael Lawrence Nelson, long-time faculty 
member of the University of Wyoming Libraries 
(UW), has died. Nelson joined UW in 1984, after 
working in Montana libraries. He was hired in 
the reference department as the social sciences 
reference librarian and French bibliographer, 
and held that position until 2013, when he 
moved to the Collection Development Offi ce to 
focus on selecting and ordering books in those 
same disciplines. In 2009, Nelson was awarded 
the Agnes Milstead Distinguished Librarianship 
Award for his outstanding contributions to UW. 
He was the libraries’ leading expert in con-
structing and executing complicated database 
searches. Nelson was respected as a thoughtful 
mentor to junior faculty members and a trusted 
source of institutional memory.

Larry Romans, long-time head of government 
information and media services at Vanderbilt 
University (1983–2013), has died. He was for 

P e o p l e  i n  t h e  N e w sAnn-Christe Galloway

a number of years the Leg-Net coordinator 
for the ACRL Chapters Council, which made 
him an ex-offi cio member of its Committee on 
Governance. He served on ALA Council since 
1992 and was a mem-
ber of the ALA Execu-
tive Board (2007–10), 
during which he was 
the liaison to the ACRL 
Board. In addition to 
his service to ACRL, 
Romans was chair of 
the Government Docu-
ments Round Table 
(1999–2000). He re-
ceived the 1995 ALA/
GODORT/ ProQuest Documents to the People 
Award and the 2008 ALA/GODORT James Ben-
nett Childs Award for lifetime contributions to 
government information librarianship. He also 
served on the U.S. Public Printer’s Depository 
Library Council (2012–15). Romans also served 
on the Board of Directors of ALA’s Gay, Lesbian, 
Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table (GLB-
TRT). He and his spouse helped endow the 
Mike Morgan-Larry Romans Stonewall Children’s 
and Young Adult Literature Award, given annu-
ally to an age-appropriate book of exceptional 
merit relating to the LGBT experience. Romans 
served on the Board of Directors of the Tennes-
see Library Association (TLA) for many years. He 
received the 2011 TLA President’s Award for out-
standing service and the 2013 TLA Honor Award 
for “signifi cant contributions to library service in 
Tennessee.” Romans was a member of the ALA 
Legacy Society, composed of members who have 
included ALA in their wills. 

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Larry Romans