EIU Media Relations

Allen Lanham Named a Luminary by Illinois Library Association

The Illinois Library Association recently granted luminary status to Allen Lanham of Charleston, dean of library service at Booth Library, Eastern Illinois University.

Illinois Library Luminaries honor those who have made a significant contribution to Illinois libraries during a career that has positively served the library profession.

Lanham has served as professor and dean of library services at EIU for 25 years. He also served on the Charleston Public Library and library system boards, and was elected president of the Illinois Library Association. He was named ILA Academic Librarian of the Year in 2008 and has been a regular contributor to the ILA Reporter.

During his tenure at Eastern, he has encouraged a wide range of library programming in the arts and humanities, and has been the principal investigator for Art and Architecture in Illinois Libraries since 2006. He has consulted for libraries in Central and South America and Africa.

 Prior to his career in libraries, Lanham was a professor of music in Puerto Rico and an instrumental music teacher, holding a doctorate in music education from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester. He received a master’s in library science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.