Volkmann Scholarship honors library director and mentor

Carl Volkmann served as a mentor to many librarians throughout his 12‑year tenure as director of Lincoln Library in Springfield, Illinois. Volkmann passed away in 2013, but his commitment to helping future public librarians lives on through the Volkmann Scholarship he and his family established at the iSchool at the University of Illinois Urbana‑Champaign.

Volkmann was born and raised in Toluca, Illinois. He earned a bachelor's degree from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, and Master of Divinity degree from Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa. While he started his professional career as a high school history and English teacher, his focus shifted from teaching to librarianship in the 1960s, leading to an MSLIS from the University of Illinois in 1969.

In 1970, Volkmann started working at Lincoln Library as a young adult librarian. He held several appointments including acquisitions librarian, assistant director, and associate director, before serving as library director from 1981 until his retirement in 1993. 

Volkmann was involved in numerous boards and commissions. He was named a 2004 recipient of the Illinois Humanities Council's Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award for his 40 years of service as an educator, librarian, and community volunteer in Springfield. His published works include Springfield's Sculptures, Monuments, and Plaques (Arcadia Publishing, 2008), co‑authored with Roberta, and Lincoln in Sculpture (Illinois State Historical Society, 2009).

Three years before his death, he and his family established the Volkmann Scholarship Fund to support students pursuing a professional career in public librarianship. After Volkmann passed away, his wife, Roberta; daughter, Joan; and son, Curt, continued to donate to the scholarship fund, honoring his legacy by helping other students follow in his footsteps.