My Daguerreotype Librarian

2013-05-22

bochord:

Famous Librarians - Philip Larkin Public Librarian, Wellington, Shropshire, 1943-1946; Assistant Librarian, University College Leicester, 1946-1950; Sub-Librarian, Queen’s University Belfast, 1950-1955; University Librarian, Brynmor Jones Library, University of Hull, 1955-1985
Almost as notable for his work as a librarian as for his poetry, Philip Larkin spent most of his adult life working in libraries by day, staying late in his office at night to write. Regarded as a poet in exile, due to the thirty years he spent living and working in the remote northern city of Hull, Larkin was never one to court the spotlight, declining both an OBE, in 1968, and to become to Poet Laureate, in 1984. Larkin held the post of University Librarian at the University of Hull until his death, and the library is still notable for the changes he made.

Library Ode
New eyes each year Find old books here, And new books,too, Old eyes renew; So youth and age Like ink and page In this house join, Minting new coin.
(1979)

Larkin’s essay, ‘Single-Handed and Untrained’, on his introduction to the world of libraries is available in his essay collection, Required Writing: Miscellaneous Pieces 1955-1982, much of which is available to be read online here.
Read a rare interview with Larkin, about his work in libraries and his writing, in full in the Paris Review here.

FAMOUS HISTORICAL LIBRARIAN: PHILIP LARKIN,

Famous Librarians - Philip Larkin
Public Librarian, Wellington, Shropshire, 1943-1946; Assistant Librarian, University College Leicester, 1946-1950; Sub-Librarian, Queen’s University Belfast, 1950-1955; University Librarian, Brynmor Jones Library, University of Hull, 1955-1985

Almost as notable for his work as a librarian as for his poetry, Philip Larkin spent most of his adult life working in libraries by day, staying late in his office at night to write. Regarded as a poet in exile, due to the thirty years he spent living and working in the remote northern city of Hull, Larkin was never one to court the spotlight, declining both an OBE, in 1968, and to become to Poet Laureate, in 1984. Larkin held the post of University Librarian at the University of Hull until his death, and the library is still notable for the changes he made.

Library Ode

New eyes each year
Find old books here,
And new books,too,
Old eyes renew;
So youth and age
Like ink and page
In this house join,
Minting new coin.

(1979)

Larkin’s essay, ‘Single-Handed and Untrained’, on his introduction to the world of libraries is available in his essay collection, Required Writing: Miscellaneous Pieces 1955-1982, much of which is available to be read online here.

Read a rare interview with Larkin, about his work in libraries and his writing, in full in the Paris Review here.

FAMOUS HISTORICAL LIBRARIAN: PHILIP LARKIN,

(via laura-in-libraryland)

Source: bochord

Edward Christopher Williams (1871 – 1929) was the first African-American professional librarian in the United States of America. His sudden death in 1929 ended his career the year he was expected to receive the first Ph.D. in librarianship.

Upon his graduation with distinction from Adelbert College of Western Reserve University in 1892, he was appointed Assistant Librarian of Hatch Library at WRU. Two years later, he was promoted to librarian of Hatch Library until 1909, when he resigned to assume the responsibility of the Principal of M Street High School (now Dunbar High School) in Washington, D.C. He continued his career as University Librarian of Howard University until his death on December 24, 1929.

He is also author of the novel When Washington Was in Vogue.

2013-05-15

Anne Hadden on her way to deliver books in Big Sur.

From Denise Sallee’s “Reconceptualizing Women’s History: Anne Hadden and the California County Library System” in a 1992 issue of Libraries and Culture:

Anne Hadden, a California librarian for forty-six years, was one of many career-oriented women who worked within the California County Library System during the early years of the twentieth century. California library history is rich in strong, autonomous, and influential women who viewed their work as fundamental to the cultural and educational development of the state. They exemplified the educated and Progressive-minded “New Women” who came of age at the turn of the century.

2013-05-14

Esther Walls (b. 1926 in Mason City, IA) was a librarian and literacy advocate. Among other things, she served as director of the US Secretariat for International Book Year in 1972, worked at NYPL, and was associate director of libraries at SUNY Stony Brook for over a decade.

Her papers are part of the Iowa Women’s Archives at the University of Iowa Libraries, and you can find a bunch of digitized stuff in the Iowa Digital Library. (I recommend you look through the images — I had a hard time picking just one pic, because she was way photogenic.)

2013-05-09

NYPL Librarians: ERNESTINE ROSE (1880-1961)

March 19^th [was] the 131^st birthday of Ernestine Rose. Her professional accomplishments could be celebrated by highlighting her 27 years as head of three NYPL branches. Or her involvement with library education at the NYPL Library School, the Carnegie Library School in Pittsburgh, and Columbia’s School of Library Service. Or, her publications could be listed—especially The Public Library in American Life (1954) which was long regarded as an important text on librarianship.

Even more than those accomplishments, however, Rose should be hailed for her efforts to racially integrate the NYPL staff and to bring library services to the growing African-American community in Harlem.

Thanks JJ Jacobson of U Michigan for the submission!

Source: nypl-librarians.blogspot.com

2013-05-08

Thanks to David Crawford of McGill who submitted Margaret Ridley Charlton. He said of her, “She is the first, and only, librarian (so far) awarded the title of National Historic Person by the Canadian Government.”

Read more about her at David’s website: Margaret Ridley Charlton.

Source: internatlibs.mcgill.ca

2013-05-03

Women of Library History: Ida Leeson

womenoflibraryhistory:

Anna Fidgeon (Digital Learnings Initiatives Librarian at California State University, Northridge) submitted this post and found the above photo on the State Library of New South Wales’s Flickr stream.

Ida Emily Leeson (1885-1964) was the first woman to be appointed the position of Mitchell Librarian in 1932. The appointment was wrought with controversy at a time when men dominated prestigious library positions in Australia. Born February 11, 1885 in Leichhardt to working-class parents, Leeson was a promising student who graduated with honors from the University of Sydney with a B.A. in history. After a very brief stint in teaching, Leeson began a position as a library assistant at the Public Library of New South Wales in 1906. In 1909, she was transferred to the Mitchell Library (a wing of what is now the State Library of New South Wales), where she processed David Scott Mitchell’s remarkable collection of “Australiana”. Leeson’s interest in Australian and Pacific materials grew as she worked up the ranks at the Mitchell Library, eventually landing the senior position of principal accessions officer in 1919

I love Ida’s bow tie here. So dapper!

Source: womenoflibraryhistory

2013-05-02

Women of Library History: Julia Roselle Pearce

womenoflibraryhistory:

Submitted by Lori Goetsch, Dean of Libraries at Kansas State University.

In September 1894, Julia Roselle Pearce was appointed the first full time librarian at Kansas State University (then Kansas State Agricultural College) in Manhattan, KS. Pearce was from Manhattan and graduated from the college in 1890. Before becoming head librarian, she was employed as a stenographer in the office of President George Fairchild, 1891-1892, and assistant librarian, 1892-1894. The Board of Regents granted her a six week leave of absence in 1895 “to attend a library school.”

Pearce served as librarian until 1898 when she was replaced by Helen Wescott.

More great historical librarians from Women of Library History.

Source: womenoflibraryhistory

2013-05-01

Women of Library History: Sadie Peterson Delaney

womenoflibraryhistory:

Charlcie Pettway Vann (Jacksonville State Univesity) submitted Sadie Peterson Delaney, our first “Women’s History Wednesday” feature. Writes Charlcie:

Ms. Sadie Delaney was an AWESOME librarian! She was dedicated to information literacy. She is known as the pioneer of bibliotherapy. She was the director of the library at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama. She was denied membership to the Alabama Library Association due to “Jim Crow” Laws in the 1930s and ‘40s. She was internationally known and was asked to teach others of her information literacy skills all over the world.

Sadie Peterson Delaney began her career at the New York Public Library; they have a collection of her papers and more information about her career. Here’s an excerpt:

Before assuming the post of Chief Librarian at the Veterans Hospital in 1923, Mrs. Delaney began her career in librarianship at the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public Library in 1920. There she found that immigrants and troubled children could be helped through bibliotherapy (the therapeutic use of reading materials). Her initial work in bibliotherapy received international attention. Mrs. Delaney also had a special interest in books dealing with black history and literature and wanted to develop a collection with such a focus. She thus came to know Arthur A. Schomburg, the bibliophile and collector. Mrs. Delaney was cited for exceptional work at the 135th Street Branch Library and founded the first black professional women’s club in New York City. […] Mrs. Delaney’s innovative work at the Veterans Hospital in Tuskegee brought world recognition and acclaim. Bibliotherapy and group therapy for the mentally ill and disabled, special Braille therapy for the blind and other related activities at the hospital library were the primary focus of her life’s work.

Continuing the Women of Library History reblogs because, well, how could we not?

Source: womenoflibraryhistory

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Women of Library History: Henriette Avram

womenoflibraryhistory:

Submitted by Violet Fox, MLIS student at University of Washington iSchool (graduating in June!). Photo: Henriette Avram presents a roll of magnetic tape holding over 9,000 bibliographic records to Richard Coward of the British National Bibliography (1967). American Libraries October 1989.

Henriette Avram (1919-2006) was a computer programmer turned librarian who developed the MARC format. Avram began her career at the National Security Agency in 1952, at a time when learning programming was “a bootstrap operation.” After moving to the private sector in the 1960s, she worked as a systems analyst and was hired at the Library of Congress’s Office of the Information System Specialist in 1965.

Tasked with manipulating cataloging data for computer processing, Avram delved into analyzing the complexities of bibliographic description. After intense evaluation, she developed a pilot program for MAchine Readable Cataloging (MARC). The pilot program lasted from 1966 to 1968, and by March 1969, LC began distributing MARC records to subscribing libraries. Avram worked tirelessly to ensure that MARC became a national and then an international standard.

A truly revolutionary innovation, MARC opened up a new world of interlibrary cooperation. For over forty years, it’s been the basis for library automation throughout the world. Avram’s work has reverberated across the library profession.

A delightful retrospective on Avram’s career is available in the October 1989 issue of American Libraries (“Mother Avram’s Remarkable Contribution”). [Ed: see also this post via My Daguerreotype Librarian.]

More of everyone’s favorite MARC format inventor, Henriette, from everyone’s favorite feminist library history blog. I love the buttons on her starchy jacket!

Source: womenoflibraryhistory