Illinois: The Newberry Library’s First Female President is Making Big Plans
From the Chicago Tribune:
The new president and chief librarian of the Newberry Library began work on Dec. 1 and on a warm afternoon a couple of months later, she was sitting in her book-lined office saying, with what one can sense is a genuine enthusiasm, “There will be a bar bill from Lenny Bruce.”
Astrida Orle Tantillo was talking about one of the items that will be part of the first major exhibition of her tenure, “A Night at Mister Kelly’s,” which opens March 21.
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She first visited the Newberry while a student and many times through the decades. One and a half years ago, she was asked to become a trustee by then president Daniel Greene. When Greene in left in April 2023 after four years, Gail Kern Paster served as interim president until a search committee came calling on the 60-year-old Tantillo.
“I could not be more excited and honored,” she said, and that’s a feeling shared by some of those who have long worked at the Newberry, where Tantillo becomes the 10th president and first female to hold the title.
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The Newberry is a wonder, “a hidden gem that I want to make shine to the whole city, to the world,” Tantillo says.

About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.