Karen Russ
This post in the Sesquicentennial Memories series is a beautiful tribute by Ron Russ to his colleague and wife Karen Russ as published in Arkansas Libraries, 2018, Vol 75, No. 1, page 22. Thank you very much Ron for sharing her story with us.
Karen Russ: In Memoriam 1970-2017
By Ron Russ, Electronic and Public Services Librarian Arkansas State University-Beebe
Karen Russ, longtime "What's Up? Docs." column editor for Arkansas Libraries, passed away after a long fight with cancer, on December 15, 2017. She was an accomplished academic librarian, penning many scholarly articles, presenting numerous programs, and serving the UA Little Rock campus community for over 21 years. In addition, she chaired the Depository Library Council, an advisory board to the U.S. Government Publishing Office. Karen also served on the boards of the Arkansas Genealogy Society, Arkansas Outdoor Photographers Club, and Arkansas Affiliate of the Association on Higher Education And Disability (ARK-AHEAD), among others. She was a longtime active ArLA member, and her leadership included Centennial Committee Chair, Government Document Round Table Chair, and Conference Chair, and was a winner of the Suzanne Spurrier Award, President's Award, and LaNell Compton Award. Within the last year Karen received the Teresa Haven Distinguished Service Award from ARK-Ahead.
Karen Marlene Madej was born in Buffalo, New York on November 20, 1970. She grew up in the nearby suburb of Amherst, NY. She graduated from Sweet Home High School, and graduated with honors from SUNY College at Fredonia with a BA in History in 1992. She then went to the School of Information and Library Studies at SUNY-Buffalo, where she met her future husband, Ronald Russ, in a government documents class. After she graduated with her MLS in 1994, she worked as a government documents librarian at the Queens Borough Public Library in Jamaica, NY. In 1996, she was offered the government documents librarian position at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where she worked until her passing. Karen taught many library instruction classes, especially in the social sciences and graduate programs. In addition, she also authored or co-authored many publications including 1957 Crisis at Central High: An Annotated Bibliography of Government Publications, Piece by Piece: A Handbook - Library Instruction for Students with Disabilities, and Reaching Out to Youth with Electronic Government Information, among others.
Karen was a special person. While I might be biased (being her husband), the number of cards and emails I received after her passing bears this out. She meant a lot not just to the UA-Little Rock community, but the Arkansas library community as well. On a personal note, she meant an awful lot to me. We traveled all over the state together, taking photos along the way. We served on some of the same boards together (including ArLA and the Arkansas Genealogical Society). None of these things will be the same anymore. However, for what she had gone through in the last few years, she is at least not suffering anymore. Rest well, dear, you've earned it.
Donations to the Karen M. Russ Memorial Scholarship may be made at the UA Little Rock Office of Alumni and Development website: http://ualr.edu/giving/product/you-select/. Donors should specify the scholarship when prompted by the question: "Where would you like your donation to go?" Also, checks made payable to "UA Foundation" with "Karen Russ Memorial Scholarship" in the memo field can be sent to UA Little Rock Office of Development, 2801 S University Ave., Little Rock, AR 72204.
***Ron also notes "Since the publishing of the obituary, Karen Russ won the 2018 ALA GODORT James Bennett Childs Award (posthumously). The award honors an individual who has made a lifetime and significant contribution to the field of documents librarianship."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
In honor of the Sesquicentennial next year (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%7Cc57a2484fc9249fb120608ddd8dbbb91%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C638905160462741500%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=3qN8nRJxTYSNgu6QKIJHyZUYHyvAdqdVuxUsvV0i7m8%3D&reserved=0" data-linkindex="9"> 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%7Cc57a2484fc9249fb120608ddd8dbbb91%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C638905160462760289%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=4jDznuPhIVVLSIUU7AGlhMgO9k2PR%2BnG7LWr4SdGsUQ%3D&reserved=0" data-linkindex="10">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%7Cc57a2484fc9249fb120608ddd8dbbb91%7C7cf48d453ddb4389a9c1c115526eb52e%7C0%7C0%7C638905160462777677%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=LDQLKLzgkIZ0tDDUcJ8ZuILagnXgdEWMSro2WVDi1cI%3D&reserved=0" data-linkindex="11">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
------------------------------