This honor roll for Illinois libraries serves the dual purpose of recognizing outstanding voices in the library community, while creating a legacy through the ILA Endowment to continue their important work.
2014
Nancy Gillfillan
After Gillfillan's retirement from the Fondulac District Library in 2005, she continued to impact and inspire the library profession by teaching the Administration & Management of Libraries and Information Centers course for seven years at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at University of Illinois. Nancy Gillfillan has dedicated more than 30 years to the Illinois library community. Spending the majority of her career at the Dixon Public Library, her accomplishments include introducing the rural community to library automation and Internet access. She extended her passion for libraries to the greater Illinois community by presenting at a wide variety of conferences and workshops and serving on a variety of committees. Her committee work included serving as President of the University of Illinois Graduate Library School Alumni Association in 2001, a member of the ILA Conference Committee from 1991-1995, a member of the ILA Executive Board from 1997-2000, and as ILA president in 2003.
Inducted September 19, 2014
Pat Norris, 1948-2014
In 2002 Norris helped design ISL’s leadership program Synergy, whose graduates occupy positions of leadership throughout the nation. Her leadership on the development and implementation of the technology skills program ILEAD U (Illinois Libraries Explore, Apply and Discover: The 21stCentury Technology Tools Institute for Illinois Library Staff), broadened her reach to new audiences.Patricia Ann Norris joined the Illinois State Library (ISL) in 1986, originally recruited to revamp its scholarship program for library school students in Illinois. She served as the associate director in charge of ISL’s Library Development Group and her career was marked by wholehearted dedication to quality continuing education for all library staff. The Small Public Library Management Institute (SPLMI), which began in 1994, was her concept and set new standards for support and mentoring.
In 2012 she assembled the team that managed the 2013 Public Library Construction Grant Act to award $50 million for public library construction. She served as the Illinois Coordinator for the White House Conference on Libraries, 1988-1990, guiding over 900 people, including many citizen representatives, through the process of thinking creatively about challenges and directions of the Illinois and national library communities. She worked in every type of library—public, academic, school, and special—and was a trusted mentor and friend to countless Illinois library staff.
Inducted February 7, 2014
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