Professor and Executive Associate Dean Linda C. Smith (MS '72) has been named an Illinois Library Luminary by the Illinois Library Association (ILA). This distinction honors individuals whose efforts have made a significant contribution to Illinois libraries. Smith's nearly 50-year career began when she came to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Graduate School of Library Science (now the School of Information Sciences) in 1971 shortly after graduating summa cum laude in physics and mathematics from Allegheny College (PA). She received her MS from Illinois in 1972 and spent a year at Washington University School of Medicine Library in St. Louis as a trainee in computer librarianship. She then earned an MS in information and computer science from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1975 and a PhD from Syracuse University, School of Information Studies in 1979. 

The University of Illinois is working with six other universities to streamline and improve access to books for students with disabilities who need an alternative to the print format. Part of a two-year effort funded by a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the project includes university libraries, disability resources offices and university presses, as well as the digital repositories HathiTrust, Internet Archive and Bookshare.

The lessons that Dorothy Vickers-Shelley (MS '75) imparted to students still resonate nearly a decade after her death. Vickers-Shelley was the head librarian at Yankee Ridge Elementary School in Urbana for 33 years, retiring in 2003.

As coordinator of history and traditions programs for the University of Illinois Alumni Alliance (UIAA), Ryan Ross (MS '10) is a curator, educator, and storyteller. His position was created in 2015 to curate exhibits for a campus welcome center that was under development at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, develop public programming related to the history of the University, and serve as an advocate for University history. After nearly three years of work, the completed welcome center—known as the Richmond Family Welcome Gallery—opened at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center in October 2018 during Homecoming Week. Since October, more than 13,000 people have visited the Center's exhibits.

Samantha Walkow, an Informatics PhD student advised by Assistant Professor Matthew Turk, has been accepted into the Mozilla Open Leaders Program. The 14-week mentorship and project management program focuses on internet health and openness. Walkow is part of a cohort in the "culture track," in which participants learn how to design and build an open culture that promotes participation and inclusion.

Our School is grateful for talented and dedicated staff, who contribute greatly to our teaching and research excellence. This "Get to Know" series highlights our staff, sharing their friendly faces and stories of professional success. 

Pamela Wisniewski, assistant professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Central Florida, has been selected by the iSchool faculty as a research fellow for the 2019-2020 academic years. Research fellows are chosen because their work is relevant to the interests of the School's faculty and students. During the period of their appointments, fellows give at least one public lecture.

iSchool Affiliate Professor John Price Wilkin, Juanita J. and Robert E. Simpson Dean of Libraries and University Librarian, has been named the 2019 winner of the Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award. Wilkin will receive a cash award and citation during an ALCTS event at the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, DC.

As the current president of the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), Paolo P. Gujilde aims to streamline the organization's workflow and processes, increase membership, and provide more opportunities for members to be involved. He credits the continued support from APALA members for making a very busy year a wonderful one as well.

The Committee on Accreditation (COA) of the American Library Association (ALA) has granted continued accreditation status through 2025 to the iSchool's Master of Science in Library and Information Science (MS/LIS) program. The decision was based on the "totality of the accomplishment and the environment for learning" of the program.