Dr. David Cox, longtime director of the Joseph R. Skeen Library at New Mexico Tech, has been named the 2024 Librarian of the Year by the New Mexico Consortium of Academic Libraries. He received the award in October at the NMCAL conference.

NMCAL President Sara Quimby said, “David was awarded this honor due to his accomplishments and impacts on academic library work and his service to the profession. He has been described by his colleagues as one of the kindest, most thoughtful, wise, and genuinely funny library directors one can encounter. We at NMCAL congratulate and thank David for all his wonderful work.”

Dr. Cox is in his eighth year as director. His chief professional interests include emphatic library design, improvement of services for neurodivergent patrons, the pedagogical application of generative AI in higher education, and academic library sustainability. He has served as President of the New Mexico Library Association (2019-20) and the New Mexico Consortium of Academic Libraries (2022-23).

“The success of Skeen Library in fulfilling the mission and vision of New Mexico Tech depends on the entire staff,” Dr. Cox said, who advocates for the leadership of academic libraries through a collaborative team management approach and who strives to create a living library that addresses the needs and success of students in STE²M research and application.

As the director of the Student Research Symposium each April, David works with a team of NMT academics to emphasize conveying of intricate research to a general audience. Through workshops, communications work on presentation, and rehearsal, students are able to succeed and thrive beyond the university environment, he said.

NMT Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Michael Jackson said, “I was elated to hear about NMCAL’s recognition of the excellent work and advocacy Dr. Cox has performed for them and the profession. As the director of our library, he has led his team’s efforts to make our library welcoming and accessible to students, staff, faculty, and the community. This recognition illustrates another example of the talented and dedicated individuals we have at NMT and another reason that makes this a fantastic place to be.”

Dr. Cox earned a Ph.D. in philology from the University of St Andrews in Scotland and an MS-LIS from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His interests also include the progression of language changes in ancient documents and the need for research in communication (the Gutenberg Parentheses) as generational change occurs in North America and Europe.

Dr. Cox also serves as pastor (part-time) of Valley Lutheran Church, an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregation in Los Lunas.