SLIS named 2025 Alumni Award winners

Shweta Shroff, Krystal Smith and Tammi Halliburton took the honors for this year's alumni awards from the School of Library and Information Studies. The alumni awards were presented at the SLIS reception at the Texas Library Association Annual Conference April 3, 2025. 

Shroff, a 2019 MLS graduate, received the $1,000 Ann Barnett Outstanding Professional Service Award. She is the North American University Library Director in Houston and has over 17 years of library experience. Named a 2024 TALL Texan, Shroff received the 2024 Outstanding Staff Award at NAU. 

She actively fosters an inclusive campus culture, promotes student-centeredness and global citizenship, and is an ardent advocate for OER. Her achievements and contributions reflect and elevate TWU core values of opportunity, creativity, collaboration, well-being, diversity, excellence, and caring with distinction.

Smith, a $500 Continuing Education Award winner, is the reference manager at Springfield-Greene County Library in Missouri. She is chair-elect of the Missouri Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee and is a 2025 ALA Emerging Leader. An active participant in the Springfield comms city, Smith is part of the Grant Writers Association and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She plans to use her award to attend ALA this summer in Philadelphia where she looks to learn more about committee work on the national level. 

Halliburton, also a Continuing Education Award winner, is a school librarian at Little Cypress Elementary in Orange, Texas, part of the Little Cypress-Mauriceville Consolidated Independent School District. The Campus Technology Champion at her school, Halliburton helps teachers integrate digital tools in their lessons, offers training and support for new technology and software, organizes and leads STEM events, and writes grants to expand library and technology resources. 

She has collaborated with a local museum to host an exhibit on children's illustrators and is involved in both ALA and the Texas Library Association. She will use her award to participate in TLA LAUNCH - a leadership initiative for new library professionals that helps build foundational leadership skills. 

Page last updated 5:14 PM, September 26, 2025