CHICAGO – Maureen Sullivan, an organization development consultant, has been elected to the 2012-13 presidency of the American Library Association (ALA).
Sullivan defeated Susan Stroyan, information services librarian at the Ames Library at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ill.
Sullivan received 5,259 votes. Stroyan received 3,642 votes.
As ALA president, Sullivan will be the chief elected officer for the oldest and largest library organization in the world. The ALA has a membership of more than 62,000 librarians, library trustees and library supporters. Its mission is to promote the highest quality library and information services and public access to information.
“I am humbled and honored to have been elected to serve the dynamic profession of librarianship,” Sullivan said. “I look forward to working with Sue Stroyan and other members who will help ALA lead the 21st century information revolution.”
Stroyan extended her congratulations to Sullivan. “It has been a pleasure being her opponent in this campaign,” she said. “I admire her and believe she will be a wonderful ALA President. Having been asked to run for such an esteemed position is very much a win for me. This year has been remarkable, especially for the opportunity to meet new people and rekindle old acquaintances. I want to thank Illinois Wesleyan University for all the support it gave me and the many friends and family who believed in me. Thanks to everyone involved in ALA and ALA-APA for giving me this opportunity. I’ll never forget your kindnesses, your generosity and your sincere commitment to this magnificent profession.”
Sullivan will become president-elect in June 2011, and will assume the ALA presidency in June 2012, following the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif. She will serve a one-year term as president and a one-year term as immediate past president.
Sullivan is a consultant to numerous libraries of all types – academic, public, school, law, health sciences and other special libraries – and library consortia.
In addition to her consulting work, Sullivan is a professor of practice in the Ph.D. program, Managerial Leadership in the Information Professions, at the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science.
She spent 12 years as the human resources administrator in the libraries at the University of Maryland (1977-1980) and at Yale University (1983-1991). She was also the management training specialist at the Association of Research Libraries (1980-1983).
Sullivan is past president (1998-1999) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). She was also president of the Library Administration and Management Association (now LLAMA) for the 1988-89 term.
Her other ALA activities include work as co-chair of ALA President Roberta Stevens’ initiative, Our Authors, Our Advocates, co-chair of the Emerging Leaders Initiative (2006-08), chair of the Office for Library Personnel Resources Advisory Committee (1991-93) and chair of the Minority Fellow Program Advisory Board (1989-1995).
She was chosen the 2010 Academic/Research Librarian of the Year by the Association of College and Research Libraries. Her other honors include the American Library Association’s Elizabeth Futas Catalyst for Change Award in 1999.
