Nicole H. Cruz
Mrs.Cruz graduated from Dakota Wesleyan University with a double major in English and Journalism and a secondary education minor. She received her Masters of Library Science from Sam Houston State University. She has library experience at elementary, middle- junior high, and high school levels.
Mrs. Cruz was elected TASL Councilor in March 2019. She served a three year commitment. TASL stands for Texas Association of School Librarians. TASL is a division of the Texas Library Association. There are more than 4,000 members of TASL.
In 2023, Mrs. Cruz was awarded the Standing TALL Award by the Texas Library Association. Only one librarian in the state from all public, special, academic, and school librarians is selected for this honor every year. This award is for leadership.
In January 2025 Mrs. Cruz will be on the TLA Ballot for TLA President Elect. This honor was earned through a competitive nomination, application, and interview process.
Mrs. Cruz served as President Elect, President, and Past President of the Texas Association of School Library Administrators from 2016-2018. She serves on several local and state committees. She was a co-moderator for #txlchat. She served on the Texas Media Awards Committee for three years. She was the Chair of the Tejas Star Book Award Committee. She was appointed by the 2018-2019 Texas Library President Jennifer LaBoon to serve on the TLA Awards Committee. She was a member of the Steering Committee for the Texas State School Library Standards Revision. She was honored by the South Texas Literacy Coalition as the School Librarian of the Year. She was a 2005 TALL Texan and served as a TALL Texan Mentor in 2017. The Alumni Snapshot Campaign was selected as the Upstart Innovative Programming Award for School Libraries during the TLA Conference of 2021. She earned the coveted Standing TALL Award for Leadership from the Texas Library Association in 2023.
During the summer of 2021 she was selected to serve on a ten member Texas Education Agency Committee Educator School Advisory Committee for school librarian standards and certification. She was one of 10 librarians who worked on updating school library standards for school librarian certification.
She enjoys working with students and seeing their maturity and educational development from the time they enter as a freshman and exit as a senior. Mrs. Cruz loves getting to know the faculty and staff and serving as a resource to them.
Her favorite quote is "Carpe Diem!"