GSLIS alumna Gail Bush (MS ’77) has been named an Illinois Library Luminary by the Illinois Library Association.
Bush’s passionate career in Illinois libraries spans five decades of service in academic, corporate, and school librarianship, as well as public library trusteeship. After earning a doctorate in educational psychology, Bush’s tenure as a library practitioner was followed by moving into academia as a professor and director of the School Library Media Program at Dominican University's Graduate School of Library and Information Science. She later founded the School Library Program in the Department of Reading and Literacy at National Louis University.
Highlights in peer recognition include the 1998 North Suburban Library System School Librarian of the Year; the Illinois School Library Media Association Polestar Award recipient of 2007; and the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana Graduate School of Library and Information Science Distinguished Alumnae of 2008. She served as president of the Illinois Library Association in 2010-2011 and has been involved state, regional, national, and international associations. A prolific grant writer, author, and frequent conference presenter and workshop facilitator, Bush publishes in both the education and library fields and serves on numerous editorial boards.