In 1996, I took a job as the “tech­nol­ogy coör­di­na­tor” at the Grande Prairie Pub­lic Library in Hazel Crest, Illi­nois (one of Chicago’s south sub­urbs). It was my first real technology-related posi­tion, and Susan was the direc­tor who hired me. Although I was there for less than a year (mov­ing on to the Sub­ur­ban Library Sys­tem), we accom­plished a lot in that short time. GPPL became the first pub­lic library in Chicago’s south sub­urbs to have a web page, offer [dial-up] inter­net access for the pub­lic, and teach patrons about email (using free PrairieNet accounts). I even started a group to teach patrons about the web, and we started show­ing users how to find jobs online.

I had a vision for bring­ing inter­net access and web-based infor­ma­tion to the com­mu­nity, and Susan made it hap­pen. She was com­mit­ted to the val­ues of equity of access for every­one, so she found the money for the com­put­ers and the monthly dial-up fee because she under­stood that the emerg­ing web of infor­ma­tion would help level the play­ing field for her patrons. She never stopped fight­ing for libraries and their users, which is some­thing I’ve always admired about her. I don’t think I’d be where I am today if she hadn’t hired me for that job.

Sadly, Susan died yes­ter­day morn­ing. Megan Heli­gas has writ­ten a blog post where any­one can leave a com­ment In Mem­ory of Susan Roberts. I left sym­pa­thies there, but I wanted to link to the site for those who may not yet have heard this news, and I want to extend my deep­est sym­pa­thies to Susan’s family.