[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…

The Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA) has announced the results of its 2013 election. Among those selected for new assignments beginning July 1, 2013, are the following GSLIS alumni: Lian Ruan (MS ’90, PhD ’11), vice president/president-elect (2013-2014)Sai Deng (MS ’05), member, Board of Directors (2013-2016)Win Shih (MS ’87), member, Board of Directors (2013-2016) CALA is a…

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) has announced the results of its 2013 elections. Several GSLIS alumni have assumed positions in the association’s specialized sections: Wayne Bivens-Tatum (MS ’00), member-at-large (three-year term), University Libraries Section (ULS)Marianne Bracke (MS ’97), vice-chair/chair-elect, Science and Technology Section (STS)Lynda Duke (MS…

Several GSLIS alumni were recently elected to serve in leadership positions for state and national library associations.Elizabeth Beers (MS ’06; CAS ’09), also a former LEEP adjunct faculty instructor, was elected as secretary/treasurer for ALA’s Library Research Round Table (LRRT). Beers will serve a two-year term beginning July 1, 2013.Keshia Garnett (MS ’01) and Amanda E. Standerfer (MS…

Graduation is approaching, and at this time of the year, we reflect on those individuals who have made a difference in our lives. New graduates and alumni are encouraged to honor GSLIS faculty and/or staff through the LSAA Tassel Project, which was established in 2011 by the Library School Alumni Association (LSAA) to support the creation of an endowed professorship in the School.With a…

Library Journal’s annual “Movers & Shakers” list recognizes professionals who are shaping the future of libraries in a variety of ways. The recently released 2013 class of Movers & Shakers includes two GSLIS alumni, Annette Bailey (MS ’01) and Maurice York (MS ’03), who have been recognized in the category of tech leaders. Bailey is the assistant director for electronic…

Two GSLIS alumni were selected this year as Public Library Association (PLA) Leadership Fellows to attend the PLA Leadership Academy: Navigating Change · Building Community. Toby Greenwalt (MS ’04) and Marc Gartler (MS ’05) were among twenty-four public librarians selected for the PLA Leadership Academy, a pilot program that seeks to develop a leadership training model for advancing…

GSLIS alumna and adjunct lecturer Christine A. Kujawa (MS '03) has been selected by the Public Library Association as the 2013 recipient of the Gordon M. Conable Award. The award honors her work in leading intellectual freedom education and advocacy on local, state, and national levels. Kujawa is currently head of circulation services at Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library in…

GSLIS alumna Lorraine Haricombe (MS ’88, PhD ’92) has been elected chair of the Steering Committee for the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC). SPARC is an international alliance of academic and research libraries working to create a more open system of scholarly publishing, and the Steering Committee acts as an advisory board to its executive director. Currently…

Kathi Carlisle Fountain (MS ’97), head of collection development at the Washington State University - Vancouver Library, has been awarded the 2013 Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Law and Political Science Section (LPSS) Marta Lange/CQ Press Award. The award, established in 1996 by LPSS, honors an academic or law librarian who has made distinguished contributions to…

[image1-right]Alumna Lizabeth (Betsy) A. Wilson (MS ’78) has been named the winner of the 2013 Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award. The award, jointly sponsored by four divisions of the American Library Association, recognizes an academic librarian who has worked in library automation or management for his or her significant accomplishments towards improving library services or research.…

GSLIS alumna Kathleen Willis (MS ’05) has been elected to the Illinois General Assembly to represent the 77th legislative district of the state. Willis, who will be inaugurated to the legislature on January 9, currently serves as coordinator of access services for Elmhurst College’s library. In addition to her role at the library, Willis teaches courses in children’s and youth literature at…

Four GSLIS alumni have been selected to participate in the American Library Association’s 2013 Emerging Leaders program. Tarida Anantachai (MS ’11), Amanda Binder (MS ’08), Margaret Heller (MS ’08), and Yasmeen Shorish (MS ’11) joined the 2013 class of Emerging Leaders, which includes a total of fifty-five individuals from across the country. Now in its seventh year, this leadership…

GSLIS alumni Peggy Glatthaar (MS ’07) and Sandy Wolf (MS ’93) are recipients of the first Outstanding Civil Service Staff Award from the University of Illinois Library. The award recognizes civil service staff members for their exceptional accomplishments and distinctive service to the library.Glatthaar is a library operations associate, supervising the main stacks circulation desk and…

GSLIS alumna Ana Peso (MS ’07), a librarian at Glenbrook North High School, will appear on the December 31 episode of the popular game show "Jeopardy." The episode will air in Champaign, Illinois, at 4:30 p.m. on WAND-TV. Peso took Jeopardy’s online timed test twice before receiving an invitation to appear on the show. An avid reader throughout her life, she prepared by brushing up on…

[image1-right:resize-300w]Safiya Noble (MS ’09, PhD ’12) is a recipient of a 2013 INTERSECT Award for her participation in the curricular initiative, “Learning to See Systems.” INTERSECT, an effort by the Graduate College at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, seeks to encourage collaboration and innovation in interdisciplinary arts and humanities research and training. INTERSECT…

GSLIS alumna Gwen Evans (MS ’02) was named executive director of the Ohio Library and Information network, OhioLINK. OhioLINK is a consortium of 88 college and university libraries in Ohio, providing approximately 600,000 students, faculty, and staff with access to millions of books, articles, and other information sources. Evans had served as interim director of OhioLINK before being…

[image5-right]To commemorate Veterans Day, Kevin McLaughlin (MS ’04) helped organize “Called to Serve: A History of Military Service at the University of Illinois,” a month-long exhibit at the University of Illinois Main Library. McLaughlin, a senior library specialist at the University Library and a veteran, wanted to create the exhibit to honor and support veterans on campus. “I was…

At the annual meeting of Alpha Chapter of Beta Phi Mu held on November 3, 2012, the following graduates of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign became members of Beta Phi Mu.Anthonia AhonsiBarbara A. AlvarezVictor M. BenitezLaura Anne BuchholzMeira ChefitzRobin C. DavisLinda Mary DiekmanDave J. EllenwoodKatherine C.…

Lynn Yarmey (MS '11) has been profiled in Library Journal's "Librarians Abroad" series, which highlights professionals who either work outside libraries and archives or who hold somewhat less traditional positions in libraries and archives. Yarmey, who completed the GSLIS Specialization in Data Curation, currently works for the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, as the…