Peggy Sullivan

Peggy Sullivan received the American Library Association's (ALA) highest honor in being named an Honorary ALA Member in 2008, recognizing more than fifty years of dedicated service to the profession of librarianship. 

Illinois is fortunate, indeed, to have Sullivan and her boundless energy in residence.  Sullivan received her doctorate from the University of Chicago and is widely regarded for her leadership in the field. 

Her many achievements include having served as director of the Knapp School Libraries Project, commissioner for Extension Services at the Chicago Public Library, dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Rosary College (now Dominican University), and dean of the College of Professional Studies at Northern Illinois University. 

She has mentored many librarians in Illinois and served as inspiration to others through these positions as well as through her leadership in professional associations, having served as president of ALA's Children's Services Division (now the Association for Library Service to Children or ALSC), ALA President, and ALA Executive Director. 

Sullivan lives in Chicago and continues to be an active member of the profession and a powerful advocate for libraries.

Inducted 2009

Judith Fingeret Krug, 1940-2009

No person is more closely identified with libraries and the cause of intellectual freedom than Judith F. Krug, ILA member and director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom since it was founded in 1967. 

During that time, Krug helped to found the Freedom to Read Foundation and served as its executive director from 1969 until her death in 2009.  In 1982, she helped to create Banned Books Week, now an annual event. 

An April 14, 2009, editorial in the New York Times celebrated Krug's role in promoting and protecting a precious First Amendment right:  the freedom to read.  The editorial noted that Krug, "assisted countless local librarians and library trustees dealing with objections to library materials." 

Among her many honors, Krug received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the 2009 William J. Brennan Award, presented posthumously by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression.

Inducted Friday, 4 December 2009

Patricia Ann Scarry, 1949-2009

Patricia Scarry was the director of the Sussex County (Delaware) Department of Libraries and the Fairfield (South Carolina) Count Library prior to arriving in Illinois. 

She joined the American Library Association in 1980 to establish the Chapter Relations Office and served as the association's liaison to ILA and other state associations throughout the 1980s. 

As one of the youngest presidents of the Delaware Library Association, she brought the perspective of member affiliates to ALA and worked to make the larger association responsive to the needs of the state associations.  

As ALA Membership Director, she was a technology innovator, leading ALA's transition to a database driven membership system and implementing new technologies for key member services.  She was a tireless advocate for reading, libraries, and the disenfranchised.

Inducted Friday, 4 December 2009

Michael Madden

As former director of the Schaumburg Township District Library, Madden was a leading force in local, state and national arenas, representing libraries and lending his talents to keep libraries relevant. 

He served on and chaired numerous ILA and ALA committees during his more than forty years in the profession, served as ILA Treasurer, and taught classes in business librarianship at Rosary College (now Dominican University).  His mentoring skills resulted in several former staff members becoming library directors, as well as one being elected president of ILA. 

Among his innovations as a library director, he worked to install two teens as library trustees benefiting the library and the community.

Sarah Ann Long

As the former director of the North Suburban Library System (NSLS), Sarah Long led an organization of more than 650 academic, public, school, and special libraries in the north/northwest suburbs of Chicago.  Long was president of the American Library Association in 1999-2000 and is a past president of the Public Library Association.  In her more than forty years of library leadership, she has worked with libraries and library organizations in five states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Oregon, and worked as an academic librarian in England.  Often ahead of her time, Long pioneered Internet access in NSLS libraries and earlier in her career led winning library referenda campaigns in Pennsylvania and Oregon.  A frequent speaker and contributor at conferences, online, and in print, she is a six-time recipient of the John Cotton Dana Award for excellence in public relations, presented annually by the American Library Association.  Her many awards and recognitions include being named the ILA Librarian of the Year in 1999.

Inducted Friday, 4 December 2009

Bridget Later Lamont

Bridget Later Lamont served as Director of the Illinois State Library for more than a decade from 1983 – 1999.  In the position, she fostered library development, expanded use of technology in libraries, and encouraged multi-type library cooperation.  She later served as Director of Policy Development for the Governor of Illinois.  Lamont also served as Vice Chairman of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science.  She received the 1990 Outstanding Achievement Award from the American Library Association; was named Librarian of the Year by the Illinois Library Association in 1991, and received an honorary doctorate from Rosary College in 1994.

Inducted Friday, 4 December 2009

Mary Josephine Booth, 1876-1965

Eastern Illinois University's Booth Library nominates its namesake, Mary Josephine Booth (1876-1965), to be recognized as an ILA Illinois Library Luminary.  From 1904 to 1945 (41 years), Ms. Booth served as the library director at Eastern.

Diligent and industrious, dedicated and efficient, Ms. Booth built a library collection to support the ever-changing needs of the institution.  She promoted library literacy as essential for all educated people. She inspired generations of students and educators to value libraries.  She spearheaded a successful 20-year campaign for a new library building at Eastern (completed in 1950.)  Professionally, she was very active in the Illinois Library Association, serving as treasurer from 1913-1914, and as president from 1915-1916.  She served with the American Library Association overseas during World War I.  As a scholar, she gave a variety of presentations, wrote articles for professional journals, and authored several important bibliographies.  Mary J. Booth was truly an exemplary librarian.

Inducted 2009

Barry Levine, 1950-2009

Barry Levine was a "champion" for all things library - including accessibility.

A distinguished leader, popular and respected throughout the state, Barry's passion, leadership and outstanding work for libraries earned him much recognition.  He received ILA's Trustee of the Year Award in 2001, the Alexander J. Skrzypek Award in 2004, and the Robert S. Bray award in 2009, among others.  Barry was also a founding member of ISL's Talking Book and Braille Service. Barry's dedication to library users crossed a broad spectrum.  He was a true visionary who contributed to effectively moving libraries into the future and embracing service for all.

Inducted Friday, 4 December 2009

Sharon Ball was the consummate system consultant.  Before going to the North Suburban Library System, she was a youth services librarian at Roselle and Helen Plum in Lombard and the youth services department head at Villa Park.  She brought to system work an understanding of the needs of youth services librarians, and she quickly learned about the needs of the school and special librarians with whom she worked.  She left a spark of shining light with everyone she met and everyone with whom she worked.  She was a mentor, a colleague and a friend.  She taught her system consultant colleagues how to handle situations with grace, tact and good humor.  It was always by example or modeling.  When she spoke, she made a person feel like they were the most important person in the world.  She was a storyteller, a reader, an accomplished grant writer and master project manager.  She could do all of these things with a twinkle in her eye, a smile on her lips and a positive attitude with the "good, good" response.  Sharon did not expect awards or accolades, but she received the Davis Cup from the Illinois Library Association's Youth Services Forum in 2002 and the Polestar Award from the Illinois School Library Media Association in 2008.  Ball was an individual who "led from the middle" and created positive changes in the profession.

Inducted Friday, 12 February 2010

Robert R. McClarren

In 1967 Robert R. McClarren was named founding Director of the North Suburban Library System.  Upon retirement in 1989 he was named System Director Emeritus. McClarren provided substantive and exemplary leadership for the development of the fledgling regional library systems.  His unprecedented mastery of the legislative process and untiring advocacy work resulted in legislation that remains the bedrock of Illinois library legislation.  ILA's Robert R. McClarren Award is named in his honor. McClarren was named ILA Librarian of the year in 1978 and served as ILA President in 1981.  McClarren was Treasurer of the American Library Association 1968 - 1972.

Burton Joseph, 1930-2010

Burton Joseph was a friend to Illinois libraries in a way that only a true civil libertarian could be.  In one of his early cases, he represented a Lake County bookseller's right to sell Henry Miller's novel Tropic of Cancer, securing a favorable decision before the Illinois Supreme Court in 1964.  Joseph may be best known for his work on cases such as the National Socialist Party of America seeking to demonstrate in Skokie in 1978 and the American Library Association's successful opposition to the constraints of the Communications Decency Act in 1997.  He always championed the rights of the underdog, from comic book artists to the retailers who sell their work.  A lifelong supporter of First Amendment rights and the freedom to read, Joseph was executive director of the Playboy Foundation from 1969 to 1978, when he became chairman of its board.  Joseph is a founding member and former chairman of the Media Coalition, an association that defends the First Amendment right to produce and sell books, movies, magazines, recordings, DVDs, videotapes, and video games.  He was active in and honored by the American Civil Liberties Union, and he was a Freedom to Read Foundation board member and recipient of its 2008 Roll of Honor Award.

Inducted Thursday, 15 April 2010

E.C. Alft

From the time he made Elgin his home in 1950, E.C. "Mike" Alft has spent much of it in the library.  He is recognized as an ever-present user of Gail Borden, having spent nearly sixty years gleaning facts, trivia and curiosities from books and microfilm.  A teacher, constant reader, mayor and local historian, he has written more than a dozen books and booklets – one a history of Gail Borden Library, among the oldest public libraries in Illinois.

As a library trustee, he was a participant in the planning for the present building and its branch.  A staunch supporter of the Freedom to Read and the Library Bill of Rights, he led board discussions when community members voiced complaints about materials.   Who better to defend intellectual freedom than one who has logged the more than 2400 books he has read since the age of 15, chiefly works on history, economics, government and classic literature.  Not included in the list are the "light" reading titles he has consumed.

Never idle, Alft continues to offer support with workshops to train newly minted trustees and programs on Elgin's rich history as well as to portray the library namesake, dairyman Gail Borden.

Inducted 2010

Robert Wedgeworth

Robert Wedgeworth's career in librarianship has spanned the nation and the globe, but his present and roots are strongly based in Illinois.  In addition to his landmark leadership of the American Library Association (ALA) as executive director from 1972-1985, Wedgeworth served as a professor and University Librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) from 1993 until he retired from the university in 1999.  He currently lives in Chicago and is noted for his public service to organizations ranging from the Newberry Library to the Poetry Foundation.  With degrees from Wabash College and the University of Illinois (1961), Wedgeworth had an illustrious career in academic librarianship at Brown University, Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey, and served as dean of the School of Library Service at Columbia University from 1985-1992.  Throughout his career and well into retirement, Wedgeworth continued to serve the profession, assuming the position of president of ProLiteracy Worldwide from 2001-2007.  He is only the second American to be elected president of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and the only one to serve a second term.  For his many achievements, Wedgeworth has received six honorary doctorates and three of ALA's highest honors, including the Lippincott and Melvil Dewey awards.

Inducted Thursday, 29 July 2010

Debby Miller

Debby Miller has been very active in library activities on the local, state, and national levels, and she is a trustee extraordinaire! She is a former member and president of the board of the North Suburban Library System.  As a trustee of the Schaumburg Township District Library since 1971, Miller has served as that board’s president several times.  Her honors include the Illinois Library Association (ILA) Trustee of the Year Award in 1979 and the American Library Association (ALA) Trustee of the Year Award in 1985.  She was president of the ILA’s Trustee Section and an officer and member of the board of ALA’s Association of Library Trustees and Advocates (ALTA).  She served on ALA’s Intellectual Freedom and Legislation committees and was active for many years in the legislation activities of the Illinois Library Association.  She served on the Illinois State Board of Education for twelve years.  Miller continues to be active not only at the Schaumburg Township District Library but also on the Arts Commission of the Village of Hoffman Estates as well as assisting in the adult education program at Roosevelt University in Schaumburg.

Inducted Friday, 12 November 2010

Robert P. Doyle

Bob Doyle has been executive director of the Illinois Library Association since 1996, leading the association from a position of financial uncertainty to financial security while continually improving the association's advocacy efforts, communications, and continuing education vehicles. 

Prior to joining ILA, Doyle worked at the American Library Association (ALA) where he created and secured funding for a Fulbright program for librarians and then reestablished American Library Association's International Relations Office.  As a former staff member of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom, he has worked since the inception of Banned Books Week to produce the necessary materials and resources to make the event an annual celebration of the "right to read."  He has served on the board of the Freedom to Read Foundation and received its highest honor, the Roll of Honor Award, in 2009. 

Doyle is the author of Banned Books and editor of the ILA Reporter, as well as a regular contributor to national and international library journals and a frequent speaker at conferences and events.  He has served two terms as a member of ALA Council and been active in the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). 

A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Doyle holds an MLS from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  A Milwaukee native, Doyle has lived in Chicago for many years and began his career in librarianship at the Oak Lawn Public Library.

Ernest J. Martin

Ernie Martin, former associate executive director of American Library Association (ALA), began his ALA in 1971.  During his twenty-nine-year career at ALA, Martin oversaw the construction of the ALA headquarters at 50 E. Huron and was responsible for ushering in the computer age, overseeing creation of the fledgling Office of Information Technology and Telecommunications Services. Additionally, at different times during his tenure at ALA, Martin was responsible for several key association services including the customer service units of membership services and conference registration, as well as human resources and finance/accounting.  Martin’s steady leadership, calm demeanor, dry sense of humor, and compassion were among the hallmarks of his tenure.  In addition to his service to ALA, Martin served as a trustee of the Rolling Meadows Public Library and continues to make his home in Rolling Meadows.

Inducted Friday, 12 November 2010

As the recipient of Illinois Library Association's 2010 Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial/DEMCO Award, Vandella Brown has been recognized for her outstanding service to libraries and librarians in Illinois.  Brown was instrumental in developing the Illinois State Library's Diversity Program, which presents nearly forty programs each year.  Her work with ILA's Cultural and Racial Diversity Committee has been instrumental in broadening the association's reach, awareness, and membership.  She was one of founding mentors of Synergy:  The Library Leadership Initiative, and has worked with libraries to present cultural heritage events in their communities.  Brown has served as the Illinois State Library's ILLINET-OCLC Services director, director of the East St. Louis Public Library, and on the staff of the Columbus Metropolitan Public Library (Ohio) and the Memphis/Shelby County Public Library (Tennessee).  She received her Master's Degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Iowa.  In 1977 she received recognition for her research contributing to Alex Haley's Roots, the television series.  In 1997 her article, "African American Fiction:  A Slamming Genre," was published by the American Library Association, and she is the author and contributor to several books including Celebrating the Family:  Steps to Planning a Family Reunion and Writing and Publishing:  The Librarian's Handbook.

Inducted February 3, 2011

Sylvia Murphy Williams, former ILA President and director of the Dundee Township Public Library, was a visionary leader whose impact on Illinois libraries was profound.  Her untimely death in 2003 prompted the formation of the Sylvia Murphy Williams Scholarship Fund that continues to support Illinois recipients of the ALA Spectrum Scholarships.  Williams graduated from DePaul University in 1983 and received her graduate degree in 1993 from Dominican University's Graduate School of Library and Information Science.  She began working at the Dundee Township Public Library District in 1995 and previously worked at the Palatine Public Library District (1990-1995) and DePaul University (1980-1990).  She joined ILA in 1993 and was active on both the Membership Committee (1997-1999) and Cultural and Racial Diversity Committees (1999-2000) before being elected Vice-President/President-Elect in 2001.  When she assumed the presidency in 2002, she made it a priority to fight against legislation that would constrain intellectual freedom and privacy.  She was also a member of the American Library Association and Public Library Association.  Sylvia was a special mentor, a colleague, and precious friend to many.  She was radiant.  She was so full of life and excitement about her family and her profession that she always graciously welcomed and encouraged others.  Her vibrant personality, great sense of humor, and stunning sense of style are still sorely missed.

Inducted Friday, 11 February 2011

Alphonse F. Trezza, 1920-2009

Alphonse F. Trezza was a pioneer in library leadership in the state of Illinois and the nation.  As director of the Illinois State Library from 1970 to 1975, he fostered resource sharing among libraries and oversaw the establishment of multi-type cooperative library systems, still recognized as one of the best models for service in the country.  Trezza also served as executive director of the Catholic Library Association; associate executive director of the American Library Association; executive secretary of ALA’s Library Administrative Division (now the Library Association and Management Association); and executive director of the United States National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, where he masterminded the early planning for the White House Conference on Library and Information Services; and professor of the Florida State University School of Library and Information Studies.  His many accolades and awards include the Librarian’s Citation (1974) and Special Librarian’s Citation (1965) from the Illinois Library Association; Honorary Membership (2007), Joseph W. Lippincott Award (1989) and Exceptional Achievement Award of the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (1981) from the American Library Association; Outstanding Alumnus Award (1963) from Drexel Graduate School of Library Science; and Professor Emeritus status (1993) upon his retirement from Florida State University.

Inducted Friday, 11 February 2011

John W. Berry

Berry’s 36-year career in librarianship, spent almost entirely in Illinois, has included work for the University Libraries of Northern Illinois University and the University of Illinois at Chicago and service as the Executive Director for the Library Administration and Management Association of the American Library Association.  He is perhaps best known, however, as the Executive Director of NILRC, the Network of Illinois Learning Resources in Community Colleges where, for almost 15 years, he managed with distinction and dedication a 50-member learning resources consortium of community colleges, colleges, and universities in Illinois and Missouri.  His current role as a professor of librarianship at Dominican University is again another example of his giving nature in support of new librarians.

Berry served as President of the American Library Association from 2001 to 2002 and advanced the cause of library recruitment as one of his important presidential initiatives.  In April of 2002, he led a national town hall meeting where he gathered library leaders from around the country to address the need of our profession to recruit enough of the best and the brightest to librarianship.

Berry has always been able to inspire members through his quiet and professional leadership.  He is well spoken and articulate on a wide variety of subjects, especially so as it relates to libraries.

Inducted Friday, 11 February 2011

Kathleen Balcom

In her thirty-seven year career as a public librarian, Balcom has been an innovator.  She was the director of the Arlington Heights Memorial Library for 15 years, leading the library through numerous renovations and expansions that nearly doubled the size of the building, making it one of the state's largest.

In 1987, Balcom was elected president of ALA's Public Library Association.  She served on the advisory committee for PLA's new long-range planning process.  She served as a speaker, a regional trainer and a consultant to area libraries in using the program.  She was elected to the ALA Council at-large, as the PLA division councilor and as the ILA chapter councilor.

In 1997, Balcom was elected President of ILA and led the association during a time of financial crisis.  She helped ILA develop a long-range plan, raised funds to continue the association's advocacy program, and helped establish a capital reserve fund to improve financial stability in the future.

Balcom was selected as a mentor for the first national Snowbird Leadership Institute and the first Illinois Synergy Leadership Initiative.  Upon her retirement, the Arlington Heights Board of Library Trustees established a scholarship in her honor to assist employees seeking to earn a library degree.  In 2004, she was honored as ILA's Librarian of the Year and was given the first Lifetime Achievement Award by the North Suburban Library System.

Inducted Thursday, 10 November 2011

Tobi Oberman and Tom Rich are founding members of the Reaching Forward Conference, and currently serve as co-chairs.  The inaugural Reaching Forward Conference was held in 1990 to serve the continuing education needs of library support staff.  Now in its third decade, Reaching Forward is the nation’s premier one-day conference serving library staff at all levels.  Under Tobi and Tom’s leadership, Reaching Forward has provided education opportunities to tens of thousands of library staff in Illinois.  The Reaching Forward Committee recognized Tobi’s and Tom’s contributions by naming an award in their honor.  The Oberman-Rich Award acknowledges the contributions of a support staff member to the library community and to the role of support staff in libraries by providing a scholarship to attend the Reaching Forward Conference.

After years of working in partnership with the Illinois Library Association (ILA), Tobi and Tom oversaw the process by which Reaching Forward became a forum of ILA. Tobi and Tom have served ILA in many capacities.  Both have served on the Executive Board, on multiple ILA Annual Conference Program Committees, on the ILA Awards Committee.  Tobi has also served on an exhibitor relations task force and the ILA Nominating Committee.  Still, Tobi considers serving on the Executive Director selection committee that hired Bob Doyle to be her finest moment of service to the Association.

In 1993, Tobi and Tom were named the first Public Librarians of the Year by the North Suburban Library System for their work with Reaching Forward.

Nationally, Tobi and Tom have both served on the ALA Empowerment Conference Planning Committee, bringing the Reaching Forward model to the ALA Annual Conference.  Tobi has also served on several ALA Awards Committees.

Tobi Oberman is Head of Circulation Services at Skokie Public Library.  Tom Rich is an Independent Library Consultant and serves as President of the Zion-Benton Public Library Board of Trustees.

In addition to their service to the Reaching Forward Committee and ILA, Tobi and Tom are well known by ILA’s Annual Conference Exhibitors.  You can find them behind the registration desk each year, welcoming exhibitors with a familiar face and a friendly smile.

Inducted Friday, 10 February 2012