Carl Volkmann served as a mentor to many librarians throughout his 12-year tenure as director of Lincoln Library in Springfield, Illinois. Volkmann passed away in 2013, but his commitment to helping future public librarians lives on through the Volkmann Scholarship he and his family established at the iSchool.
Volkmann was born and raised in Toluca, Illinois. He earned a bachelor's degree from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, and Master of Divinity degree from Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. While he started his professional career as a high school history and English teacher, his focus shifted from teaching to librarianship in the 1960s, leading to an MSLIS from the University of Illinois in 1969.
In 1970, Volkmann started working at Lincoln Library as a young adult librarian. He held several appointments including acquisitions librarian, assistant director, and associate director, before serving as library director from 1981 until his retirement in 1993.
Volkmann was involved in numerous boards and commissions. He was named a 2004 recipient of the Illinois Humanities Council's Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award for his 40 years of service as an educator, librarian, and community volunteer in Springfield. His published works include Springfield's Sculptures, Monuments, and Plaques (Arcadia Publishing, 2008), co-authored with Roberta, and Lincoln in Sculpture (Illinois State Historical Society, 2009).
Three years before his death, he and his family established the Volkmann Scholarship Fund to support students pursuing a professional career in public librarianship. After Volkmann passed away, his wife, Roberta; daughter, Joan; and son, Curt, continued to donate to the scholarship fund, honoring his legacy by helping other students follow in his footsteps.
"Dad was an excellent listener who helped people feel seen," Joan said. "As the son of a Lutheran minister who also had a divinity degree, he was very principled and a good judge of character. As the assistant director at Lincoln Library, he did all the hiring for many years, so when he became the director, he had hired every one of the professional employees. Many of those employees have shared with us how Dad was a mentor to them, and several of them went on to run their own libraries in other communities."
Among those Volkmann hired and mentored is Gwen Harrison (MSLIS '97), who serves as the Lincoln Library's current director.
"I was an experimental hire for the Lincoln Library circulation desk and the first high school student to serve in this position," recalled Harrison. "Mr. Volkmann was a man of few words, contemplative, and trusted. He accompanied me on my first-ever Amtrak trip, smiling indulgently at my elation over the train ride. Mr. Volkmann hired me immediately after I graduated from Illinois State University with my BS in library science. While working at Lincoln Library, I went on to obtain my MSLIS at the University of Illinois—another great move, thanks to the visionary Mr. Volkmann."
In the years since the scholarship fund was endowed, nine MSLIS students have benefitted from the Volkmann family's generosity.
"Of all his professional accomplishments, Dad was proudest of the many achievements of those whom he mentored. It is fitting that his legacy is a continuation of support for beginning professionals," said Joan.
"My career has come full circle as thirty-nine years after first meeting Mr. Volkmann as a high school student, I now sit in the role of director at Lincoln Library. I want to express again, Mr. Volkmann, thank you for taking a chance on me. It indeed worked," added Harrison.