Peggy Sullivan - ALA Honorary Member

ALA Honorary Member

In 2008, Peggy Sullivan was named Honorary Member of the American Library Association. Sullivan, a library consultant, was nominated in recognition of over 50 years of dedicated librarianship during which she wrote the definitive scholarly history of the tenure of Carl Milam (ALA secretary 1920-1946) and the growth of the American Library Association to an international organization.

Peggy Sullivan is the only Honorary Member to have a giant image of her book on a parking garage in the Kansas City Library District. The facade includes her 1956 children’s book, The O’Donnells as a title on the Community Bookshelf.

The official resolution is as follows:

Whereas, Dr. Peggy Sullivan has dedicated over 50 years to the field of librarianship, and

Whereas, Dr. Peggy Sullivan served as director of the Knapp School Libraries Project, which had great national impact on convincing the public of the need for high quality school library media programs; and

Whereas, Dr. Peggy Sullivan wrote the definitive scholarly history of the tenure of Carl Milam (ALA Secretary 1920-1946) and the growth of the American Library Association to an international organization; and

Whereas, Dr. Peggy Sullivan was the 1991 recipient of ALA’s Joseph W. Lippincott Award for distinguished service to the profession of librarianship; and

Whereas, Dr. Peggy Sullivan’s wide-ranging career includes such highlights as President of ALA’s Children’s Services Division (now the Association for Library Service to Children – ALSC), Assistant Commissioner for Extension Services at the Chicago Public Library, ALA President, ALA Executive Director, Dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Rosary College (now Dominican University), Dean of the College of Professional Studies at Northern Illinois University, various international assignments, and numerous administrative, library, and university teaching positions; now, therefore, be it Resolved, that in recognition of over 50 years of dedicated service to the profession of librarianship, Dr. Peggy Sullivan be awarded the highest honor this Association can bestow, Honorary Membership in the American Library Association.

Adopted by the Council of the American Library Association

January 15, 2008

Keith Michael Fiels

Secretary of the Association

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania