[image1-right]GSLIS alumna Rose Allen (MS ’01) has been named an Illinois Library Luminary by the Illinois Library Association (ILA).
Friends and colleagues came together to nominate her and raise funds in her honor for the Illinois Library Association Endowment. Luminaries are selected for their significant contributions to Illinois libraries.
Allen began her career as a library assistant at the Mount Prospect Public Library (MPPL) in 1969. After earning her bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University and her master’s degree from GSLIS, she continued to contribute to the Mount Prospect community through her work at MPPL.
Allen worked as the teen services librarian at MPPL and was instrumental in forming a support staff group there. She contributed to the greater library community by serving on the ILA Reaching Forward Committee and the ALA Support Staff Round Table. She was elected to the ILA Executive Board and served on numerous ILA committees, including awards, membership, and cultural and racial diversity committees, and she received the ILA Jane O'Brien Award recognizing her work. Allen also was honored by the Village of Mount Prospect when she received the “Toast of the Town” award. She is now retired.
Past Illinois Library Luminaries include GSLIS alumni Judith Fingeret Krug (honorary degree ’05, inducted 2009), Beverly Lynch (MS ’59, inducted 2013), Nancy L. Smith (MS ’68, inducted 2012), and Robert Wedgeworth (MS ’61, inducted 2010).