Fayrene Muhammad (MS '01) has been selected as the 2018 winner of the DEMCO/ALA Black Caucus Award for Excellence in Librarianship. The annual award is presented to the librarian who has made significant contributions to promote the status of African Americans in the library profession. These contributions may include, but are not limited to, research and scholarship, recruitment, professional development, planning or implementation of programs, or advocacy.

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 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.

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.

Studies consistently show that students achieve higher test scores and greater academic success when they have access to fully staffed, effective school libraries. The School Librarian Licensure program at the iSchool welcomes those who want to make a difference in the lives of youth by becoming a school librarian. Applications to the program are due February 15 for summer/fall admission.

Kati Richardson (MS '18) is the district librarian for the Highland (IL) school district. She has always been passionate about libraries, so school librarianship was a natural choice.

Midori Clark (MS '17), director of community relations, development & strategic initiatives for the Pueblo (CO) City-County Library District; Amita Lonial (MS '09), assistant director of the Tacoma (WA) Public Library; and Nataliya Papushina (MS '15), branch supervisor for the Indian Trails Public Library District in Wheeling (IL) are among the twenty-eight public librarians selected to participate in the Spring 2019 PLA Leadership Academy, which will be held March 25-29 in Chicago.

A $1-million dollar gift from Lionelle (BA, LAS '66; MS, LIS '67) and James (BS, Business '66; MS, Business '67) Elsesser will both expand the iSchool's academic programs and support the recruitment of promising students. The gift will be invested in the School's new programs, and that investment will generate $50,000 annually for the Katharine L. Sharp Scholarships, which will be available to students in all iSchool programs.

As a new master's student in library and information science, funds were tight, and Curt McKay (MS '88) hoped for an assistantship to ease his financial burden. Leigh Estabrook, dean of the School, noticed that McKay had been a teacher and offered him an assistantship in the learning resources lab. "At Illinois, not only did I start learning a new career, but I got carried away by this wonderful atmosphere," McKay recalled. Instead of completing his degree in one year as he had planned, he decided to extend it to two years, then in April of his first year, a job opened up in the School, and McKay was encouraged to apply.

Anna Oates (MS '18) won the National Records of Scotland Award for the Most Outstanding Student Work in Digital Preservation for her master's thesis work on the PDF/A standard. She received the award on November 29 at a ceremony at the Amsterdam Museum, as part of an international conference hosted by the Dutch Digital Heritage Network and the Amsterdam Museum on World Digital Preservation Day. According to the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC), who sponsored the awards, this year marked the greatest number of nominations the organization has received to date, and those selected as finalists faced tough competition from entries across the world.