Barbara J. Ford

Barbara J. Ford is an American librarian who served as president of the American Library Association from 1997 to 1998. She earned a bachelor's degree from Illinois Wesleyan University, a master's degree in International Relations from Tufts University and a master's degree in library science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Career
Ford served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Panama and Nicaragua.

Her professional positions include assistant commissioner for central library services at the Chicago Public Library; executive director of the Virginia Commonwealth University libraries; and associate library director at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She has also served in several positions at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Ford was Director of Mortenson Center for International Library Programs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign libraries from 2003 to 2014.

Ford served as an elected member of the Governing Board of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions from 2005 to 2009. She served as a member of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO from 2011 to 2013.

American Library Association
Ford's ALA Presidential theme was "Libraries: Global Reach – Local Touch" during 1997–1998. She edited a volume, Libraries: Global Reach Local Touch, that included her inaugural speech.

Ford was president of the Association of College and Research Libraries from 1990 to 1991.

Awards and honors
The American Librarian Association recognized Barbara Ford's many contributions to the library community by including her in its ALA Legacy Society Honor Roll.

Ford was the inaugural speaker for the Jean E. Coleman Library Outreach Lecture in 2000.

She received the John Ames Humphry/OCLC/Forest Press Award for significant contribution to international librarianship.

In 2016, the Illinois Library Association recognized her as an Illinois Library Luminary for her dedication to the field.

She received the Sheth Distinguished Faculty Award for International Achievement, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recognizing her work in teaching, research, and public service in the international arena.