Dr. Troy Swanson Named Academic Librarian of the Year by the Illinois Library Association

For Immediate Release

Dr. Troy Swanson, adjunct professor in the School of Information Studies at Dominican University in River Forest and librarian at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills, has been named Academic Librarian of the Year by the Illinois Library Association.

The award, presented by the ILA's Illinois Association of College and Research Libraries (IACRL) Forum, recognizes a librarian for outstanding statewide contribution to academic or research librarianship and to library development.

Swanson received his Master of Library Science from Dominican University in 2000 and has been an adjunct faculty member teaching future library professionals since 2014. He is also a teaching and learning librarian and library department chair at the Sylvia M. Jenkins Library at Moraine Valley.

Swanson was recognized by the Illinois Library Association for improving information literacy and behavior, and for his library outreach and advocacy. Much of this work has been accomplished through his service on the Association of College and Research Libraries' Task Force on Information Literacy Competency Standards.

The task force developed the Framework for Informational Literacy for Higher Education and promoted it locally through the development of the Information Literacy Summit.

Swanson has also presented at the ILA annual conference and national conferences. He is the co-author of the book Not Just Where to Click: Teaching Students How to Think About Information, which earned the Ilene F. Rockman Publication of the Year Award from the ACRL. He is also the author of Knowledge as a Feeling: How We Know What Is True, which provides psychological and neurological frameworks for building information literacy programs for students.

Swanson's advocacy on behalf of library unions helped to pass HB1859, an Illinois law affirming community college courses are taught by human professors rather than artificial intelligence. His activism included a Circulating Ideas podcast episode in 2025 where he interviewed librarians about the underfunding of libraries and the cutting of librarian roles.

"I am greatly honored to receive the Academic Librarian of the Year award from ILA," Swanson said. "Throughout my career, I have tried to be an advocate for information literacy within the college curricula and I have worked to rethink how academic librarians can be vital to the students that we serve. The education I received at Dominican University gave me a valuable foundation upon which I have built my career."

Swanson said he is optimistic about the future of librarianship.

"Through the students in my classes, I can see that our profession will be in good hands in the future," he said.

The Illinois Academic Librarian of the Year Award, as well as other honors from the ILA, will be presented at an awards ceremony during the 2026 Illinois Library Association Annual Conference in October.

About Dominican University
Founded in 1901, Dominican University is a comprehensive, coeducational Catholic institution with campuses in River Forest and Chicago. The university offers an associate of arts in liberal arts and sciences; bachelor's and master's degrees through the Rosary College of Arts, Education, and Sciences, the College of Business, Information Studies, and Technology, and the Borra College of Health Sciences; as well as doctoral programs in information studies, applied social justice and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner.

As Chicago's premier Catholic Hispanic-Serving Institution, Dominican is consistently recognized as a leader in academic excellence and value. U.S. News & World Report ranks Dominican University in the top 25 of Midwest regional master's level universities, and #1 in Illinois for Best Value and ensuring the social mobility of its graduates.