The Chicago Association of Law Libraries honors Mary Lu Linnane with the 2015 Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Law Librarianship Award.

In her 40 plus years of service to the profession and professional associations, Mary Lu Linnane has served on committees and in leadership roles almost too numerous to mention.

She began her career in 1974 as Head of Cataloging at the Lewis University Law Library (now Northern Illinois University (NIU)).  In 1979 she took the same position at the DePaul Law Library and a year later she became the Head of Technical Services later adding Associate Director.  She stayed in that position until her retirement in June 2014.

To put it mildly, Mary Lu was a very active CALL member.  She has chaired or co-chaired, some numerous times, the Committees of Public Relations, Nominations, Education, Placement and Grants and Chapter Awards.  This does not even cover all the committees she served on as a committee member.   She also chaired CALL’s 50th Anniversary Committee, working hard to, among other things, create the banners that hung along LaSalle Street.  Mary Lu also served as CALL President, not once but twice—she is only the second CALL President to do so.  Mary Lu also received the Agnes and Harvey Reid Award twice for her outstanding service to the Chapter.

Not only was Mary Lu active in CALL but in AALL as well.  She served as the Editor of the AALL Newsletter, the precursor to the Spectrum from 1984-1988.  Prior to that she was the Newsletter Committee/SIS Column Editor from 1982-1984.  Mary Lu served on numerous AALL Committees over the years and volunteered in various capacities at AALL Headquarters and at the Annual Meetings.  In 2007, she served as Chair of the Committee of Chapter Council Presidents.

In addition to all Mary Lu accomplished in her professional career, she was also a friend and mentor to so many.