Lotsee Patterson (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Smith; b. 1931) is a

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

librarian, educator, and founder of the

American Indian Library Association The American Indian Library Association (AILA) is an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA), and is a membership action group that focuses on the library-related needs of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans and Al ...

. She has written numerous articles on collection development, tribal libraries and Native American Librarianship. Lotsee Patterson is Native American and became interested in collecting Native American objects because her mother was a collections director. Patterson is a

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

Professor Emeritus of Library and Information Studies.

Early life and education

Patterson was born in 1931 and raised in southwestern

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, on a Native American land allotment near the town of

Apache, Oklahoma Apache is a town in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,444 at the 2010 census. History Before opening the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache Reservation on August 1, 1901, for unrestricted settlement by non-Indians, Land Lot ...

. She started her professional career as a teacher at Boone School in 1959, a rural public school without a library. She taught at Riverside Indian School as well. These experiences led her to commit her professional life to determining the library needs of Native Americans and developing tribal libraries throughout the nation. She attended the

Oklahoma College for Women The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO) is a public liberal arts college in Chickasha, Oklahoma. It is the only public college in Oklahoma with a strictly liberal arts–focused curriculum and is a member of the Council of Publi ...

and earned a Bachelor of Science degree (B.S.) in 1959. She received her Masters of Library Science (MLS) from the

in 1969. In 1979, she completed her Ph.D.in Educational Technology, also at the University of Oklahoma. During her graduate studies, she focused on procuring money for training librarians on how to work productively with Native American students and in selecting Native American materials of high quality.Biggs, p. 56.

Career and contributions

After completing her MLIS, Patterson worked in libraries at Riverside Indian School (Anadarko, OK), Norman Public Schools (Norman, OK) and as Director of Library Media Services for the Oklahoma City Public Schools. She is a Professor Emeritus of Library and Information Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Prior to her position at the University of Oklahoma, she was faculty at the University of New Mexico and at Texas Woman's University. As of 2009, Patterson was on the board for the

National Medal for Museum and Library Service The National Medal for Museum and Library Service is an award given annually by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to American libraries and museums with outstanding service to their communities. The IMLS refers to the medal as " ...

which advises the Institute of Museum and Library Services. As of 2015, she was on the Board of Trustees for

Comanche Nation College Comanche Nation College was a two-year, open admissions, American Indian tribal college. It was located in Lawton, Oklahoma, the capital of the Comanche Nation. The school was chartered in 2002 by the Comanche Nation Business Committee.

. In the 1970s, Patterson helped to found the Office of Library Outreach Services Subcommittee on the American Indian, now the

. She wrote and received many landmark grants for projects that furthered the progress of librarianship for and in native nation lands, one of which was a training program for teacher's aides of Bureau of Indian Affairs schools to become librarians. In addition to this, by 1973 she had already established eight community libraries in the pueblos. Patterson was Co-Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Pre-White House Conference on Library and Information Services for Native Americans. This Committee wrote the 1992 report, ''Pathways to Excellence: A Report on Improving Library and Information Services for Native American Peoples.'' She has been involved in the development of the International Indigenous Librarians' Forum. She has also served on many committees including American Library Association's Committee on Accreditation. She has acted as a consultant in the field of library studies to many archives and museums nationwide, including as a senior advisor to the Smithsonian's

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

. Her life's work has consisted of recruiting and mentoring Native Americans in the field of librarianship, lobbying for funds to create and improve librarianship for native schools and educating students about librarianship.Oklahoma Library Legends. (2006).Paustenbaugh, Jennife
"Lotsee Patterson."
''Oklahoma State University.'' 11 July 2006. Retrieved March 22, 2019.

Selected works

* Smith, Lotsee (1974). ''Narrative Evaluation Report on the Institute for: Training Library Aides in Pueblo Indian Schools'' * Smith, Lotsee Patterson (1979) PhD Dissertation: ''A Study of Perceived Media Competencies of School Librarians in the State of New Mexico'' *Heyser, Richard and Smith, Lotsee (1980). "Public Library Service to Native Americans in Canada and the Continental United States." *Patterson, Lotsee (1986). ''TRAILS : Training and Assistance for Indian Library Services'' *Patterson, Lotsee (1992). "Native American Library Services: Reclaiming the Past, Designing the Future." *Patterson, Lotsee (1994). ''Indian Terms of the Americas.'' *Patterson, Lotsee and Taylor, Rhonda Harris (1994). ''Directory of Native American Tribal Libraries'' *Patterson, Lotsee and Taylor, Rhonda Harris (1996). "Tribally Controlled Community College Libraries: A Paradigm for Survival." *Patterson, Lotsee and Taylor, Rhonda Harris (2000) "Getting the "Indian" Out of the Cupboard: Using Information Literacy To Promote Critical Thinking." *Patterson, Lotsee (2000). "The Work of Tribal Libraries." *Patterson, Lotsee (2000). "History and Status of Native Americans in Librarianship." *Taylor, Rhonda Harris and Patterson, Lotsee (2004). "Native American Resources: A Model for Collection Development." *Patterson, Lotsee (2005). "Reflections on a Passion." *Contributor to ''Protocols for Native American Archival Materials'' (2007) *Patterson, Lotsee (2008). "Exploring the World of American Indian Libraries."

Honors and awards

*1991- Award of Appreciation from the

National Congress of American Indians The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is an Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American Indian and Alaska Natives, Alaska Native Indigenous rights, rights organization. It was founded in 1944 to represent the tribes and resist U.S. ...

*1994-

American Library Association Equality Award The American Library Association Equality Award has been given annually by the American Library Association since 1984 in recognition of achievement for outstanding contribution toward promoting equality in the library profession, either by a susta ...

*1996- United States National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Silver Award *1997- Distinguished Service Award from Oklahoma Library Association *2001-

Beta Phi Mu Award The Beta Phi Mu Award is an annual prize recognizing an individual for distinguished service to education for librarianship. First bestowed in 1954, Award recipients include various prominent leaders in the field of librarianship.George S. Bobinski ...

for distinguished service to education for librarianship *2003 - American Indian Library Association Honoring Our Elders Distinguished Service Award *2005 -

American Library Association Honorary Membership Honorary Membership conferred by the American Library Association is the Association's highest award. "Honorary membership may be conferred on a living citizen of any country whose contribution to librarianship or a closely related field is so outs ...

*2007- Lifetime Achievement Award from Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, & Museums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Lotsee Native American academics Native American women academics 21st-century American academics Librarians from Oklahoma 21st-century American women librarians Living people University of Colorado faculty Comanche 1931 births People from Caddo County, Oklahoma University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma alumni University of Oklahoma alumni Native American librarians 21st-century American women academics 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native American writers 21st-century American librarians