During their 150th anniversary earlier this year, the Chicago Public Library, honored Polish American Librarians Association member, Maria Zakrzewska, as “a tireless champion of initiatives to create services to connect Chicago’s Polish community with the public library.”
Zakrzewska began her career in Poland as a philologist and lecturer emigrating to the United States in 1988. During her 20 years at the Chicago Public Library, she won a major grant to expand the library’s collection of Polish-language materials.
“In 2000, Maria received an Outstanding Public Service Award from the Illinois State Treasurer. She also earned an entry in Polak w świecie (Poles abroad), an encyclopedia of notable figures of the Polish diaspora, and her work is described in the scholarly monograph, The New Chicago: a Social and Cultural Analysis.”
For more about her amazing career as a connector, check out this article from the Chicago Public Library.