As Director of the Morton Public Library District, Alissa G. Williams oversees all aspects of operations, including circulation, reference, technical services, collection development, technology, programming and public relations. She also manages the library’s finances and assists the Board of Trustees with recommendations on policies, budgets and the implementation of a strategic plan.
An Oregon native, Williams came to Peoria to attend Bradley University, earning her degree in communications/public relations. She began her career as a marketing intern at the Peoria Civic Center, and in just two years, was named assistant marketing manager. She then joined McDaniels Marketing, coordinating media for local, regional and national accounts, before combining her love of marketing and lifelong passion for libraries in a variety of positions at the Pekin Public Library and Bloomington Public Library.
Since being named executive director of the Morton Public Library just over a year ago, she has led the Library Board of Trustees through the strategic planning process, developing a new mission, vision and five-year plan, which she has already begun to implement.
A devoted wife and mother of two, Williams recently became a Girl Scouts troop leader, after serving on the board from 2011 to 2013. She also sits on the board of the Morton Chamber of Commerce and has held numerous leadership positions with the Illinois Library Association. She has been an adjunct professor in Bradley University’s Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts and served on a range of committees for the Pekin Chamber of Commerce, Public Relations Association of Central Illinois and The Salvation Army of Pekin, in addition to earning her Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of Illinois.
A member of the Rotary Club of Morton and a past member of the YWCA Coalition for Equality, she is vice president of the Parent Teacher League at Bethel Lutheran School and an avid reader, having read more than 100 books each year since 2008. iBi
