A librarian, Krug worked at various libraries in the Chicago area, such as the John Crerar Library and the Northwestern University Dental School Library. She was then appointed as a research analyst for the American Library Association, and later was promoted to Director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom.
Krug didn’t just take her job seriously, she made intellectual freedom her life’s work, serving as chair of the Board of Directors of the Center for Democracy and Technology, the chair of The Media Coalition, vice-chair of the Internet Education Foundation, on the Board of Directors of the Fund for Free Expression, the Board of Directors of the Illinois Division of the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Bar Association’s Commission on Public Understanding About the Law, and the Advisory Council of the Illinois State Justice Commission.
While on the job at the ALA, she founded Banned Books Week, observed the last week of September since 1982, which reminds Americans that freedom of thought is under constant threat. Krug died April 11 from stomach cancer. She was 69.