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.
2019
G. Victor ("Vic") Johnson
G. Victor (Vic) Johnson served as a dedicated library trustee of the Arlington Heights Memorial Library from 1982 through 2013, more than thirty years! He was known for his tact, approachability, and commitment to service, giving an incredible amount of time and effort to benefit libraries on the local, state, and national levels. In Arlington Heights, Vic served on the Board of Library Trustees as president for eight years, vice president/secretary for four years and treasurer for nine years. In this role, he oversaw the hiring of four executive directors and the passage of two referenda, presided over two building campaigns, and helped maintain four years of zero-percent tax increases over the prior year’s extended levy. During his Board Presidency, a three-year building project added 56,000 square feet of space to the library; also, the library was first recognized as a Five-Star Library by Library Journal and has since earned five stars for five years in a row.
In Illinois, Vic served on the North Suburban Library System’s board for 19 years, holding positions of treasurer for two years, vice president for two years, and president for three years. He then served on the board that oversaw the creation of the Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS)from the merger of five library systems. In 2000, he received ILA's Robert R. McClarren Legislative Development Award, given to a member of the library community who contributes to legislative development in the state and advocated for libraries locally, throughout the state and nationally. He also served as a member of ILA's Trustee Forum Board.
Nationally, Vic served on the national level as President and other roles in the United for Libraries (formerly the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations) division of the American Library Association (ALA), and was honored with the ALA Trustee Citation for 2013, the highest award that division bestows.
Inducted April 18, 2019
Linda C. Smith
Linda’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 M.S. 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 M.S. in Information and Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1975 and a Ph.D. from Syracuse University, School of Information Studies in 1979.
Currently, Linda serves as Executive Associate Dean for the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois, where she began as an assistant professor in 1977. She has been routinely named to the university’s List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent throughout her tenure and was named a University Distinguished Teacher-Scholar in 1999. She works with graduate students on-campus (MS, CAS, PhD) and, since 1997, online (MS, CAS).
A prolific writer, Linda has authored books, journal articles, chapters, reports and conference papers, and served as co-editor for five editions of Reference and Information Services: An Introduction (Libraries Unlimited). Her most recent publication is the co-authored chapter “Transforming Library and Information Science Education by Design” published in Advances in Librarianship (v. 44A, 2018). Linda is also the recipient of numerous awards, honors, fellowships and grants. She has been an invited speaker in Finland, The Netherlands, Sweden, and throughout the United States.
Linda’s memberships include the American Library Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Association for Information Science and Technology, Association for Library and Information Science Education, Association for Computing Machinery, Beta Phi Mu, Health Science Librarians of Illinois, Illinois Library Association, Medical Library Association, and Special Libraries Association, among others. She continues to serve on a variety of committees at the university and in professional associations, most recently as a member of the American Library Association’s Committee on Accreditation.
Inducted January 31, 2019
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