Library celebrates faculty promotions

The Texas Tech University Board of Regents at its latest meeting granted tenure and promotion to four University Library faculty, effective Sept. 1, 2026. Evaluation criteria include librarianship (primary job performance), scholarly research and institutional or professional service.

“I am incredibly proud of these faculty members and their well-earned promotions,” said Dr. Seth Porter, Dean of University Libraries. “Our library faculty play a vital dual role by supporting the research and scholarship of our students and faculty while also advancing it through their own meaningful scholarly contributions. Their expertise, service and research strengthen Texas Tech and extend its impact well beyond our campus.”

Receiving promotion to associate librarian are:

Erin Burns

Burns is a STEM librarian in the Department of Research, Instruction and Outreach (RIO) and serves as Personal Librarian for the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering.  She also serves as a subject specialist in the field of Artificial Intelligence.

“I am proud of the work that I have accomplished after 18 years in academic libraries with regard to research and teaching, and I am glad that I can teach for the Honors College on AI Literacy Concepts,” she said.

In addition, Burns is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT 500) and teaches online yoga workshops and classes at University Recreation. She also likes to crochet and give away free items like keychains and alligator clips to students in her classes.

Joshua Salmans

Salmans is a librarian in the Department of Research, Instruction and Outreach (RIO) and serves as Personal Librarian for areas including History, Philosophy, and Heritage & Museum Science.

Salmans, whose favorite color is purple, is fueled by the teaching experience. The sound of “a-ha” is one his favorites as an educator.

“We think of these “a-ha” moments as so simple, but there are still those moments in very sophisticated topics,” he said. “I went from teaching English as a foreign language to unearthing subjects used in (my students’) dissertations. That’s where I thrive, and I hope this promotion will allow me to keep doing that.”

Receiving promotion to librarian are:

Afuh “Innocent” Awasom

Awasom is a librarian in the Department of Research, Instruction and Outreach (RIO) and serves as Personal Librarian for areas including the Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Biological Sciences, Chemistry & Biochemistry, the Hurricane Resilience Research Institute and more. Awasom also is a Fulbright scholar, a role he wishes more librarians would consider participating in.

Awasom said he hopes his promotion will grant him more opportunities to expand his scope for collaboration and service. 

“Your collaboration doesn’t end within the university,” he said. “You’re embedded in the community. Promotion is a recognition of your scholarship, but it’s also a call to greater service.” 

Jingjing Wu

Wu is a librarian in the Department of User Experience and Assessment. Since 2015, she has overseen the usability and evolving best practices in website content management.

“As a web librarian, I naturally collaborate with almost every department within the Libraries,” she said, noting that she is grateful for and has learned much from the web development team in the Library. “Now that I have been promoted to full librarian, I hope to give back by helping more colleagues navigate and prepare for the P&T process.”

She said in addition to technology, crafts are something that have interested her for years.

“I’ve been interested in crafting since I was a clumsy kid,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot from Library Makerspace workshops and even started working on my own crochet projects.”