Barbara J. Ford


Barbara J. Ford is an American librarian who served as president of the American Library Association from 1997 to 1998. She earned a bachelor's degree from Illinois Wesleyan University, a master's degree in International Relations from Tufts University and a master's degree in library science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Career

Ford served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama and Nicaragua.
Her professional positions include assistant commissioner for central library services at the Chicago Public Library; executive director of the Virginia Commonwealth University libraries; and associate library director at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She has also served in several positions at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Ford was Director of Mortenson Center for International Library Programs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign libraries from 2003 to 2014.
Ford served as an elected member of the Governing Board of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions from 2005 to 2009. She served as a member of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO from 2011 to 2013.

Community engagement

Ford has been an advocate of community engagement throughout her career. In her 2000 Coleman Lecture for the Office for Literacy and Outreach Services she noted the need for libraries to broaden their strategies to collaborate with new partners.
Living this advocacy, Ford has been an active member of community groups in all the places she has worked. Her community engagement has included service on the Boards of the Friends of the San Antonio Public Library, Friends of the Richmond Public Library, and Friends of the Champaign Public Library. While commissioner of the Chicago Public Library she served on the Greater State Street Council, and the Printer's Row Book Fair.
In Champaign, Illinois, Ford serves on the Advisory Board of the Spurlock Museum of World Cultures and the Champaign Historic Preservation Commission.

American Library Association

Ford's ALA Presidential theme was "Libraries: Global Reach – Local Touch" during 1997–1998. She edited a volume, Libraries: Global Reach Local Touch, that included her inaugural speech.
Ford was president of the Association of College and Research Libraries from 1990 to 1991. She was chapter councilor from Illinois 1980-1984 and councilor-at-large 1985-1989.

International librarianship

Ford served as an elected member of the Governing Board of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions from 2005 to 2009. She served as secretary for IFLA's Section on Government Information and Official Publications, and on IFLA's Academic and Research Libraries Section.
She wrote "Librarians: Our Reach Is Global and Our Touch Is Local" in 2005.
Ford is active in the International Relations Round Table of the American Library Association and serves on the Endowment and
Fundraising Committee.
As Director of the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2003–2015 Ford spoke to embassies, library associations in many countries and international library association conferences. She is also founder of the UNESCO Center for Global Citizenship.
She served as a member of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO from 2011 to 2013.

Awards and honors

  • 2016. Illinois Library Association Illinois Library Luminary for her dedication to the field.
  • 2010.Sheth Distinguished Faculty Award for International Achievement, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recognizing her work in teaching, research, and public service in the international arena.
  • 2008. John Ames Humphry/OCLC/Forest Press Award for significant contribution to international librarianship.
  • 2008.ALA Legacy Society Honor Roll for contributions to the library community.
  • 2000. Inaugural lecturer Jean E. Coleman Library Outreach Lecture.
  • 1998. Illinois Wesleyan University. Distinguished Alumni Award.
  • 1997. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Distinguished Alumnus Award from the School of Information Sciences.

    Selected publications

  • Ford, Barbara J. and Sally J. Jacobs. "Academic Libraries", pp.55-89 in Librarianship and Information Work Worldwide. 1995. London: Bowker-Saur.
  • Ford, Barbara J. and Yuri Nakata.. "Reference Use of State Government Information in Academic Libraries", Government Publications Review. 10: 189-199.