Allen Lanham has been impressed with Illinois’ library network since his college days at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“Illinois is a good library state,” said Lanham, dean of library services at Booth Library. “We think of it as the library of Illinois rather than 4,200 libraries all separate and begging for attention. We want attention for all libraries.”

Unlike other states, Illinois’ libraries work together as a system advocating for not only their own libraries, but also others across the state. Illinois libraries constantly communicate.

The network shares what people can apply for, new opportunities for librarians or even how materials are delivered from library to library.

Illinois is very much ahead of any other state in providing these materials across the state, Lanham said.

Lanham received a master’s in library science at the University of Illinois.

He began working at Booth in 1991 as acting dean, and had previously taught music for 16 years at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico.

During the weekend of Sept. 25, Lanham won the Illinois Academic Librarian of the Year award. It has been presented annually since 1986 by the Illinois Association of College and Research Libraries Forum and is sponsored by the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois.

Lanham received the award at the Illinois Library Association’s annual conference at Chicago’s Navy Pier.

Library work

At Booth, Lanham wants things to be used until they need to be replaced. They do not buy things just to have it put on the shelf, he said.

“I want to wear them out,” he said. “I love it when the chair is broken when you go to sit down. ‘Well it’s been sat in five million times, what did you expect?'”

Aside from Booth, Lanham sits on the board at Charleston Carnegie Public Library, is the vice president of the board of directors at the Lincoln Trails Libraries System and is a past president of the ILA.

“You sort of keep your finger in many pies and then you become known as, ‘Wow he can do that, he can get that done,'” Lanham said.

An endeavor Lanham is helping undertake is the Art and Architecture in Illinois Libraries project, which is in its third year.

For the project, 950 academic and public libraries throughout Illinois are to be identified and documented. This involves visiting them, taking pictures of architectural details both inside and outside and documenting the art in the buildings.

Though the project has seen great success so far, Lanham said it has been no quick task.

“It’s enormous,” he said. “People call it ambitious.”

The project, which is partly to help put Eastern’s name out there among libraries, played a role in Lanham’s receiving the ILA award, he said.

The award

Jay Starratt, former dean of Libraries at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, nominated Lanham for the award. A committee of librarians from around Illinois decides the recipient.

“Allen is a person of great vitality who has leant his energy, insight, good humor and blunt persistence to many of our Illinois accomplishments,” Starratt said in his letter to the ILA. “Allen has ideas and acts upon them. He works mightily to achieve his vision.”

Lanham’s peers agree with Starratt and were not surprised to see the award go to him.

Peggy Manley, Lanham’s administrative assistant, said she was delighted to hear Lanham won.

“I think that he has a great vision for what libraries should be doing,” she said. “He always does everything to the best of his ability. He never says, ‘that’s good enough.’ Whatever he undertakes, he basically is a perfectionist.”

Jocelyn Tipton, interim head of reference at Booth, said the award was overdue for him. Tipton was at the ceremony in Chicago and sensed the audience knew he deserved it.

“I like how excited he is about libraries,” she said. “He’s leading us into directions because of his drive.”

Tipton and Lanham both agree that libraries are essential to campus.

Lanham said it does not even cross most people’s minds that they can call a librarian to find information.

“If you don’t continue to tell people, they forget because they’re so Google-ized,” Lanham said. “People will spend an hour on Google before they will just call their librarian.”

When Lanham mentors younger librarians for the program Synergy: The Illinois Library Leadership Initiative, he stresses that librarians are agents of social change and have a great deal of responsibility.

He said they must be dedicated to their library and help the communities make sure there is a library presence felt.

“I want to press upon these librarians that they do have to continue to remind people of what we’re here for,” Lanham said. “We’re not here to protect books on shelves.”

Tyler Angelo can be reached at 581-7942 or at trangelo@eiu.edu.

Allen Lanham was awarded the 2008 Illinois Academic Librarian of the Year on Sept. 25 at Chicago’s Navy Pier. Lanham is the dean of library services at Eastern’s Booth Library.(Courtesy of Booth Library Media Services)

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