PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 31, 2008

CONTACT: Sara Haneef
301/314-9142
shaneef@umd.edu

College Park, MD – Lara Otis has joined the Architecture Library as a Planning and Preservation Librarian. Ms. Otis comes to UM Libraries from Arlington, VA where she worked as a Librarian for Alexandria Library Local History/Special Collections. She joined the UM Libraries because "the position of Architecture, Planning and Preservation Librarian is so unusual and fits so well with my interests and background." Ms Otis feels that through her job she will be able to improve people's information literacy. In her career, she has been drawn towards choosing fields that benefit society and learning. Aside from her efforts to help others, Ms. Otis also has a passion for the subject. She admits she "keeps a close eye out on happenings in preservation, and can't seem to break the habit of mentally dating every build she sees."

Ms. Otis received a Bachelors in History and French from the College of William and Mary. She then earned a Master of Arts in Historic Preservation Planning from Cornell University. This past January she also completed a Masters of Science in Library and Information Science from Catholic University of America.

The University of Maryland is the only nationally ranked public university in the Baltimore/Washington area. With a total student enrollment approaching 40,000, the University is supported in its academic endeavors by the University of Maryland Libraries, comprised of eight libraries and more than 3.5 million volumes.