Gina J. Millsap, executive director of the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, is the new president of  the Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA). She will begin her term at the 2008  American Library Association (ALA) Conference, June 25, in Anaheim, California. LAMA's mission is to encourage and nurture current and future library leaders, and to develop and promote outstanding leadership and management practices.

Millsap became the executive director of the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library on August 15, 2005. Since the library’s beginning in 1870, she is the 15th library director and the first woman director in fifty years. As director, she works with the library’s governing board, the library staff, the Library Foundation, and the Friends of the Library to expand upon our tradition of excellence in collections, programs and services. 

Gina previously served as the director of the Ames Public Library in Ames, Iowa, where she worked since 1996.  In her 31 years of public library service, she has focused on positioning libraries to become vibrant and essential parts of their communities.  With her extensive experience in library automation systems and technology as well as strategic planning, she is a leader who finds resources, both public and private, and removes barriers to progress. 

Gina graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with B. A. and M. A. degrees in library science.  Her first public library position was with the Daniel Boone Regional Library in Columbia, Missouri.  There she gained significant experience in library information and technology systems, reference services, collection development, budgeting, programming, project management, programming, personnel management and developing community partnerships. In 2004-05, she was part of the American Bulgarian Library Exchange, a cultural and professional development program designed to partner U.S. libraries with public libraries in Bulgaria. It was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.