John W. Berry (librarian)

Berry received his Master of Arts in Teaching in 1971 and his Master of Library Science in 1974 from Indiana University.[3] He began his career in Illinois in 1980 at the Northern Illinois University libraries.[4]

He served as executive director of the American Library Association's Library Leadership and Management Association from 1985 to 1989.[5]

Berry was the director of advancement and research associate professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago from 1990 to 1996.[5]

He served as the executive director of the Network of Illinois Learning Resources in Community Colleges (NILRC) for almost 15 years, managing a consortium of fifty colleges and universities.[6] He has also held faculty and management positions at Northern Illinois University, Elmira College, and Indiana University.[5]

Berry is a professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University, where his courses have included "Great Libraries and Their Collections," International Librarianship, Literacy and Library Involvement and a doctoral seminar on visual literacy.[7] In 2010 he was elected chairman of the board of directors of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park, Illinois.[8] In 2013, Berry was appointed to the board of trustees of the American Library in Paris to represent the American Library Association.[7]

During his administration as president of the American Library Association (ALA) from 2001 to 2002, Berry's focal points were on library recruitment of strong leaders and bridging the digital divide.[6][3] He also led an ALA visit to Cuba in 2001 and worked with the Laura Bush Foundation to promote the profession of librarianship.[9]

He was president of the Freedom to Read Foundation from 2005 to 2007.[10]

Berry was named the 2009 Illinois Academic Librarian of the Year[4] and in February 2011 was inducted as an Illinois Library Luminary Honoree by the Illinois Library Association.[6]