GSLIS is proud to announce the creation of the Carl Volkmann Scholarship Fund to support students pursuing public librarianship.

“I am deeply humbled but also honored that the Volkmann Scholarship has been established,” Volkmann said. “Throughout my library career, I had the privilege of attending the number one library school in the United States and working at one of the finest public libraries in the Midwest.”

Volkmann (MS ’69) has enjoyed an admirable career in public libraries and continues to work passionately in support of public librarianship.

Volkmann and his family moved to Springfield in 1960 where he started his professional career as a high school history and English teacher. When his focus changed from teaching to librarianship, he enrolled in the master’s program at GSLIS.

After graduating from GSLIS in 1969, Volkmann took a position as the young adult librarian at Lincoln Library, the public library of Springfield. He developed an impressive career at the Lincoln Library: he was appointed acquisitions librarian in 1971, assistant director in 1972, associate director in 1979, and library director in 1981.

“Unfortunately, today the public library is one of the most important but least appreciated public institutions in our country,” Volkmann said. “Public support for public libraries is declining nationwide despite the fact that they are pivotal to our survival as a civilization. Libraries are the engines of a nation's progress, and we all must work together to preserve and support this foundation of a civil society.” 

In 1993, Volkmann retired from Lincoln Library, and now devotes his time to freelance writing and volunteering in the community. He has dedicated his time to many organizations in the community, including the Lincoln Library Foundation and the public library section of the Illinois Library Association. He also served as a board member of the Vachel Lindsay Association, the Lincoln Memorial Garden Foundation, the Dana-Thomas House Foundation, the Springfield Senior Citizens Commission, the Illinois Secretary of State’s Literacy Advisory Board, the Rolling Prairie Library System, and the Legislative Library Development Committee of the Illinois Library Association. 

Volkmann was named a 2004 recipient of the Illinois Humanities Council's Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award for his forty years of service as an educator, librarian, and community volunteer in Springfield.

To learn more about the Carl Volkmann Scholarship Fund for Public Librarianship, please contact the GSLIS Advancement Office by email; phone (217) 333-2973; or post at 501 East Daniel Street, Champaign, Illinois, 61820.