Congratulations and Thanks to Jacqueline Leskovec

Posted by Miles Dietz-Castel on April 15th, 2026 Posted in: Blog

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As many of you know, Jacqueline Leskovec will be retiring on April 30, 2026. Jacqueline began her work with the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) in 2005 when the Regional Medical Library (RML) was at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Library of the Health Sciences. Her first position was Communications Coordinator for what was then known as the GMR – the Greater Midwest Region. When the RML moved from UIC to the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences at the University of Iowa in 2016, Jacqueline continued her tenure, telecommuting from her home office in Chicago.

Over the past 20+ years, her role has evolved to include not only outreach, but evaluation, emergency preparedness, training, membership, and technology coordination, settling in her current role as Network Specialist. She has been invaluable to the Region 6 team in many ways, including serving on the Membership and Web Working Groups, as well as being the regional DOCLINE liaison.

Notably, Jacqueline has created and fostered an outstanding network across our region with the Partner Outreach Library (POL) Program at UIC and the Partner Outreach Program (POP) initiative at the Hardin Library. POP ambassadors, made up of libraries or community organizations, facilitate outreach, provide training on NLM resources, and foster partnerships to spread the mission of the Network. A few of her favorite sponsored outreach events include Outreach on a Stick at the Minnesota State Fair; training PubMed to eighth grade students in the Madison, Wisconsin, area; and a touchless, drive through sharing of NLM resources at a COVID-era outreach event in Columbus, Ohio. Jacqueline never ceased to be amazed by the POLs’ and POPs’ creativity and commitment to improving health information access in their communities.

For over 20 years — 10 years specifically with the University of Iowa — Jacqueline has dedicated her professional career to the NNLM. She has improved access to health information, increased engagement through outreach, advanced the knowledge of her peers, and offered guidance and encouragement to her colleagues. In recognition of her years of service, contributions, and achievements, on behalf of myself and all the staff who have come and gone from the RML and the University of Iowa Libraries, we thank her and wish her well.