Director Emeritus

        Harry Blizzard and his wife, Phyllis, moved to Elgin in the 1950's. Raising four children and running his own business, as well as traveling throughout Europe and the United States with his family, did not keep him from becoming involved in the Elgin community. He served on the boards of Elgin Community College, the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Elgin YMCA and Elgin Historical Society.

 

       From 2001 to 2021, Harry served on the Gail Borden Library Foundation Board. During those 20 years of service on the Board, he saw many changes including a new Rakow Branch to serve the west side of Elgin in 2009 and South Elgin Branch in 2016 as the Library continually transformed to better serve the community. The 153,826-square-foot main library building opened in 2003. Its space was and continues to be conducive to hosting exhibits including the 2005 GIANTS, African Dinosaurs Created by Project Exploration and the 2007 SPACE: Dare to Dream, with many more in the following years.

       With the help of the Foundation, including the time and work contributed by directors such as Harry Blizzard, these exhibits bring excitement to the community and offer opportunities for enhanced learning experiences for library visitors of all ages.