John Miles Littlewood passed away July 19, 2023 at the Amber Glen Alzheimer's Special Care Center in Urbana, Illinois. Born September 8, 1931 to Rena Estella Miles Littlewood and Harold Raymond Littlewood, John grew up on a farm near La Moille, Illinois, attending one of the last one-room schoolhouses in the county. After graduating from La Moille High School, where he was valedictorian of his senior class, he followed in his father's footsteps and attended North Central College in Naperville, Illinois where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in political science. After a stint in the U.S. Army, John enrolled in the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he received a Master of Science in library science in 1961.
Over the next 39 years, John dedicated his life to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign library, arriving by 6am each day and working late into the evening. Known for his expertise in state and federal government documents information throughout his career, he began in general reference, and also worked in the education library and technical services. As an associate professor of library administration, John trained many graduate assistants, new librarians and library staff. John was never too busy to help anyone and enjoyed the challenge of finding exactly what someone needed.
John was an active member of the ALA Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered Round Table and served as the bibliographer of gay literature at the UIUC library. To compliment the UIUC Lambda Literature Library Endowment Fund, established in 1993 to support collection of gay literature, John endowed a chair/professorship of gay literature at the Library in 2000.
He was given the UIUC School of Information Sciences Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award in 1998. While John retired from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in June 2000, he continued to work from his Library office for more than 10-years post-retirement. Like many in the field, John was a consummate professional, knowledgeable, a patient mentor, a patron advocate dedicated to supporting the traditions of the profession while moving forward.
By R. Erlandson
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In honor of the Sesquicentennial (150th Anniversary of ALA) in 2026, thehttps://www.ala.org/lhrt. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-auth="NotApplicable" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ala.org%2Flhrt&data=05%7C02%7Cdbs21%40psu.edu%7Cc53ee22b2cb646a0f51e08ddc65fa960%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C638884836694270391%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=l044%2B2ma3RkxeI6V0q2raNJVsQ0QWsB4329Zyhb4Wfo%3D&reserved=0" data-linkindex="62"> Library History Round Table is hosting Librarians We Have Lost, Sesquicentennial Memories -1976-2026. This collage of tributes seeks to honor librarians who died between 1976-2026. The tributes are published to ALA Connect and a https://lhrt.news/librarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026/. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-auth="NotApplicable" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flhrt.news%2Flibrarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cdbs21%40psu.edu%7Cc53ee22b2cb646a0f51e08ddc65fa960%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C638884836694286626%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=t3HWIEQaQkRcIaDOSrqqMYBX7D%2Fwr7U8vgh%2FSiTeRig%3D&reserved=0" data-linkindex="63">digital memorial on LHRT News & Notes.
We invite tributes from anyone about any library worker who passed away between 1976-2026. To submit a tribute, please use the form at https://lhrt.news/librarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026-2/. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-auth="NotApplicable" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flhrt.news%2Flibrarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026-2%2F&data=05%7C02%7Cdbs21%40psu.edu%7Cc53ee22b2cb646a0f51e08ddc65fa960%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C638884836694303094%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=LGXrJOk%2BMIQbTIY07hCwhhyfMAFbuyNGastoYRCO%2F%2BU%3D&reserved=0" data-linkindex="64">lhrt.news/...
For questions or comments, please reach out to Dr. Kathleen McCook (kmccook@usf.edu) or Brett Spencer (dbs21@psu.edu).
------------------------------
Brett Spencer
Reference Librarian
Thun Library, Penn State Berks
He/Him/His
------------------------------