Peggy Sullivan

Peggy Sullivan
President of the American Library Association
In office 1980–1981
Preceded by	Thomas J. Galvin
Succeeded by	Elizabeth W. Stone
Personal details
Born	(1929-08-12)August 12, 1929
Died	April 13, 2020(2020-04-13) (aged 90)
Nationality	American
Residence(s)	Chicago, Illinois, US
Alma mater	University of Chicago
Occupation	Librarian

Peggy Sullivan (August 12, 1929 – April 13, 2020)^[1] was an American librarian and educator. She was elected president of the American Library Association and was a scholar of the history of librarianship.

Biography

Throughout her career, Sullivan served as:

• Dean, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Dominican University (formerly Rosary College), River Forest, Illinois (1995-1997)
• Executive director, American Library Association, Chicago, Illinois (1992-1994)
• Director and professor, University Libraries, Northern Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois (1990-1992)
• Dean and professor, College of Professional Studies, Northern Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois (1981-1992)
• Assistant commissioner, Chicago Public Library, Chicago, Illinois (1977–1981).
• Dean of students, University of Chicago Graduate Library School, 1974-1977.

From 1952 to 1977, Sullivan held positions of increasing responsibility in public and school libraries. She directed the national Knapp School Libraries Project for the American Association of School Librarians (1963–1968) which had received $1,130,000 to raise the standards of school libraries.^[2]

Sullivan served on the faculties of the University of Pittsburgh and the

Highlights of Sullivan’s career include President of ALA’s Children’s Services Division (now the Association for Library Service to Children – ALSC) (1976–1977), Chair Centennial Celebration of the American Library Association (1976), assistant commissioner for extension services at the Chicago Public Library (1977–1981), ALA president (1980–1981), ALA executive director (1992–1994), Dean of the LIS Program at Rosary College (now Dominican University), Dean of the College of Professional Studies at Northern Illinois University, and numerous university teaching positions. Sullivan served as director of the Knapp School Libraries Project (1963–1968). This project had great national impact on convincing the public of the need for high quality school library media programs.^[3]

Sullivan was the 1991 recipient of ALA’s Joseph W. Lippincott Award, and was an alumnus of the University of Chicago, Catholic University and Clarke College.

In 2004, Sullivan established the Sullivan Award for Public Library Administrators. This award is presented annually to an individual who has shown exceptional understanding and support of public library service to children while having general management/supervisory/administrative responsibility that has included public library service to children in its scope. She also presented the Sullivan Award to a faculty member in the NIU College of Health and Human Sciences (formerly the College of Professional Studies, where she was dean) for achievement in research. It is presented every fall on the NIU campus.

Education

• Ph.D., University of Chicago Graduate Library School. 1972
• M.S. in L.S., Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, 1953; Thesis:(1953). Work of public libraries with trade unions in the United States.
• B.A., Clarke College, Dubuque, IA, 1950

Publications

• ISBN 0824205928
• Public Libraries: Smart Practices in Personnel, with William H. Ptacek (Libraries Unlimited, 1978)
  ISBN 0872872785
• Opportunities in Library and Information Science (Vocational Guidance Manuals, 1977)
  ISBN 089022224X
  (Sullivan had varying responsibilities for later editions of this title with various publishers)
• Problems in School Media Management (Bowker, 1972)
  ISBN 0835204278
• Many Names for Eileen (Follett, 1969)
  ISBN 0695455214
• The O’Donnells (Follett, 1956)
• More than 100 articles on various aspects of librarianship, education, administration, and history
• Reviews of books and other media, also numbering in excess of 100, for a variety of educational and library publications, as well as for The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Post, and The Chicago Tribune