Blog

Nancy Marshall (1935-2018) was inducted into the Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame at the Wisconsin Library Association Conference in Wisconsin Dells on October, 10, 2019.
 
Following her graduation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a master’s degree in Library Science at the age of 39, Nancy Marshall quickly made a name for herself both statewide and nationally.  Throughout her career, Marshall was a leader in the library community, particularly in the area of library cooperation, resource sharing, and copyright. 
 
From 1972 until 1979, she served as founding director of the Wisconsin InterLibrary Services (WiLS), a cooperative organization for resource sharing, guiding it through its first years of operation.  In 1976, she was appointed to the newly established position of Director of the Wisconsin Library Consortium. During this time, she was a member of the OCLC Board of Trustees and served as president of the OCLC User’s Council. During the mid-1970s, she worked on the development of a statewide union list of serials as a member of an ad hoc committee of the Council of Wisconsin Libraries.  She also served on the board of directors of MIDLNET, the Midwest Library Network, an academic consortium representing 9 states.  According to Charles Bunge, a  contemporary of Nancy’s and a 2009 Hall of Fame inductee, “Nancy had great interpersonal and organizational skills, and she made WILS work.  Networking and resource sharing were growing in importance in Wisconsin at that time, and WILS was a key component.”
 
From 1979 until 1986, Nancy was the Associate Director of Libraries for Public Service at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  During her tenure, she continued to focus on copyright and resource sharing.  She served on the working group of the Wisconsin Library Network Plan and was a member of the Statewide Committee on Interlibrary Loan and Reference Referral.  In regard to her continuing work with the American Library Association, she became an expert on copyright, especially fair use issues and the rights of libraries and library users to copy and use copyrighted materials. During this time, she also served as president of the American Library Association’s Reference and Adult Services Division.  In 1982, she was honored as the Wisconsin Library Association’s Librarian of the Year.
 
In 1986, Marshall accepted the position of Dean of the University Libraries at the College of William and Mary, where she remained throughout the rest of her professional career.  Her many accomplishments include the growth and modernization of Swem Library, planning and fundraising for two separate renovations and expansions, which more than doubled its size and transformed the 1965 building into a state-of-the-art facility.   During her years as Dean and continuing thereafter, Swem has been ranked among the best college libraries in the nation by the Princeton Review.  In addition, Marshall played a key role in the formation of the Virtual Library of Virginia, a statewide academic consortium that facilitated the collective purchase of online resources to serve the state’s higher education students.  Marshall retired in 1997, the same year that she was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer.  Two years earlier, she received the Distinguished Alumna Award from the UW-Madison School of Library and Information Studies for her outstanding leadership in library service.
 
A two-time cancer survivor, Marshall went on to enjoy a productive retirement, which was spent, for the most part, in Maine.  She had always had a fascination with Clement Moore’s poem, “Night Before Christmas”.  As she described it to a Portland Press-Herald reporter, ““I started out buying Little Golden Books, the 29-cent versions, and then I began collecting other copies from around the world with different illustrators. I got obsessed.”  Starting in the 1960s, this obsession grew to include more than 1000 books, manuscripts, memorabilia, and realia in her personal library and inspired her to write the book, “The Night Before Christmas:  A Descriptive Bibliography of Clement Moore’s Immortal Poem”, published in 2002.  She donated her collection to the Swem Library in 2005, and each year since then items from her collection are put display during December and January.  A gallery on the library’s first floor, adjacent to the Special Collections Research Center, was named in her honor.

Robert (Bob) Bocher dedicated his career to the use of technology to improve library service to the public, emerging as a state and national leader in this field.  He worked for decades to improve resource sharing throughout the state and saw the proliferation of library system and multi-system shared integrated library systems which helped make Wisconsin number one nationally in public library resource sharing per capita.

Bocher championed the development of library systems’ wide area networks through his tireless work with BadgerNet, WiscNet, TEACH and the federal e-rate programs to help bring fast and affordable advanced telecommunications to Wisconsin schools and libraries, including those in small and rural communities. Through this work, Bocher became both a state and national e-rate expert.
   
During his career with Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and continuing on into retirement, Bocher lent his expertise to libraries nationally through his work with many information technology committees and as an ALA Fellow. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) which administers the federal E-rate program and the Universal Service Fund (USF).

Locally and statewide he was always available to answer questions and provide consultation with both library system and public library information technology projects. He always provided assistance with never ending patience and a smile. Bob Bocher actually gave a true and sincere meaning to the old cynical, bureaucratic line, “I’m from the State and I’m here to help.”

An exceptional library media specialist and role model for more than 50 years, Helen Adams distinguished herself as a powerful intellectual freedom advocate, particularly for children and youth.  Her career began as a school district reading instructor and by 1973, she was a school librarian, retiring in 2004 from Rosholt School District (Wisconsin) as District Library Media Director and Technology Coordinator.

During those years, Helen’s Wisconsin leadership was evident.  She served on the Wisconsin Library Association Executive Board, 1984-85, and in 1985 she served as president of the Wisconsin School Library Media Association, a division of WLA. Helen received the Special Service award from the Wisconsin Educational Media Association (WEMA) in 1986 as well as its Award of Excellence in 1993.  She also served as WEMA president 1996–1998. 

Under her leadership, the library media program in Rosholt was recognized to be among the best, and Helen gladly shared her expertise in Wisconsin and beyond.  Helen participated in Department of Public Instruction (DPI) library division activities including conference presentations, long range planning development, and WISCAT (statewide union catalog of library holdings) contributions.  She provided in-service programs for CESAs (Cooperative Educational Service Agencies) serving numerous school districts as well as workshops/presentations for Wisconsin Public Library Systems. She also taught adjunct graduate courses in automation, technology, and policy development at UW Stevens Point and UW Stout.  After retiring, Helen continued to teach online graduate courses focusing on legal and ethical school library issues for Drexel University (2005), Mansfield (PA) University (2005-2015) and continues to teach one course per year for Antioch University-Seattle (2016-).

In addition to conference presentations at state and national levels, Helen published books and journal articles.  She co-authored Privacy in the 21st Century: Issues for Public, School, and Academic Libraries (Libraries Unlimited, 2005) with (fellow Hall of Fame inductee) Bob Bocher, Carol Gordon and Elizabeth Barry-Kessler. She also wrote three books including School Media Policy Development: A Practical Process for Small Districts (Libraries Unlimited, 1986), Ensuring Intellectual Freedom and Access to Information in the School Library Media Program (Libraries Unlimited, 2008) and Protecting Intellectual Freedom and Privacy in Your School Library (Libraries Unlimited, 2013).

 Helen distinguished herself at the national level as well.  She served on the Board of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) at various times between 1990 – 2003, and was AASL President 2001 – 2002.   In addition to volunteer work in AASL, she served as a trustee of the Freedom to Read Foundation (2011-2015) and multiple terms on the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee, most recently serving as chairperson in 2017-2018.

Writing, teaching, and volunteering continue to be a large part of Helen’s life.

Helen was born and raised in Wisconsin.  She received a bachelor’s degree in English/Art from UW – Oshkosh in 1966.  She received a master’s degree in Library Science from Western Michigan University in 1971, and a master’s degree in media technology from UW – Stout in 1981.  Post-graduate work was completed at UW – Stout, UW – Eau Claire, and UW – Stevens Point.  Helen was inducted into Beta Phi Mu, the international library science honor society, in 1971.

Helen is an outstanding role model and mentor.  She has been a dedicated intellectual freedom and privacy advocate throughout her distinguished career.  Helen has fulfilled the promise of Beta Phi Mu, which, by inducting her nearly 50 years ago, recognized her scholastic achievements and leadership potential.   

Lucy E. Smith Morris (1850-1935) was a native of Berlin, Wisconsin. She was a contemporary and colleague of charter Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame member Lutie Stearns. Lucy Morris advocated for the development of public libraries beginning in the late 19th century.  She worked to unite local women’s clubs under the umbrella of the Wisconsin Federation of Women’s Clubs.  At the group’s first meeting in 1896, the group determined that the establishment of public libraries would be their top priority.  Within a year, over 100 free public libraries were established throughout Wisconsin.

Lucy Morris’s efforts in promoting the expansion of public libraries resulted in her appointment as one of the founding members of the Wisconsin Free Library Commission.  Working closely with Lutie Stearns from 1897 to 1917, she supplemented the work of the Commission by recruiting volunteers from women’s clubs throughout the state. She was active in the initiative to develop traveling libraries throughout the state and served as president of the Wisconsin Library Association for the 1899-1900 term of office.

Lucy Morris’s contributions to libraries were recognized after her death by the Wisconsin Federation of Women’s Clubs with the Lucy Morris Memorial Membership to the American Library Association. This honor was presented on May 15, 1936, during the Friends of the Library luncheon.

Lowell W. Wilson was inducted into the Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame at the Wisconsin Library Association annual meeting in Wisconsin Dells on October 19, 2017.  

Lowell W. Wilson (1916-2015) contributed to advancing library service in Wisconsin as a library professional and library trustee for nearly 70 years. He was instrumental in forming statewide professional organizations for audio-visual professionals and served as president of the Wisconsin Audio-Visual Association from 1973-1976. In 1975, Lowell became active in WLA as a member of the division for trustees, chairing the group in 1991.  He remained an active member of WLA and other organizations until the end of his life.  He also served as a trustee of the Lakeshores Library System for nearly 30 years.   Wilson was selected as the 2007 WLA Library Trustee of the Year.  Around the same time, the Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association (WEMTA) established the Lowell Wilson Scholarship for individuals wishing to pursue certification as a Library Media or Instructional Technology Specialist.

As a library trustee, Wilson was constantly learning and encouraging other trustees to participate in library association conferences and leadership opportunities. He has attended most, if not all, Library Legislative Days in Madison, and took his advocacy responsibilities very seriously. He was a consistent protector of intellectual freedom, adamantly opposed censorship and Internet filtering, while defending a library patron’s right to privacy and freedom of access to information.  He was described as a man in motion, always going forward.
  
Wilson retired in 1980 from the Janesville School District where he had taught Physics and was the Library Media Coordinator. In addition to his membership in professional organizations, Wilson was a pilot and member of the Experimental Aircraft Association. He was born in Union Grove on Nov. 11, 1916, and died at his home in Whitewater on June 30, 2015 at the age of 98.