150 YEARS STRONG

Librarians We Have Lost

Transformational technology, consortia agreements, increasing awareness of social justice issues in the field, and the forging of new services have characterized the last 50 years of librarianship. Librarians filed cards in catalogs in 1976 and now they develop metadata for discovery systems. 

Who were the people who facilitated these changes?

The Library History Round Table (LHRT) promotes awareness and discussion of historical issues in librarianship. In service of its mission, members decided to provide an opportunity to reflect on the profession’s history and those who have shaped its mission, values, and legacy.

I began writing tributes about library workers as a series of posts on ALA Connect in fall 2024 to help celebrate the Association’s sesquicentennial with the hope that others would join in doing so. ALA members were asked to submit memorials through ALA Connect.

Library History Round Table logo

A LHRT committee coordinated by Brett Spencer, editor of LHRT News and Notes, formalized the “Librarians We Have Lost Initiative (1976–2026): A Sesquicentennial Memorial Project” as a crowd-sourced initiative developed to honor the memory, service, and professional contributions of librarians, educators, and library workers over the past 50 years.

Dozens have done so.  A digital memorial site collecting these tributes was posted at LHRT News and Notes.

Because the project attracted such great interest, LHRT committee member Dr. Anita Coleman authored a resolution submitted to ALA Council that was passed at the 2025 ALA Conference recognizing the “Librarians We Have Lost initiative” as an integral part of ALA’s Sesquicentennial commemoration (ALA CD 54 Resolution to Honor the Contributions of Librarians Commemorated.pdf).

The committee worked with ALA Archivist Cara Setsu Bertram, ALA Librarian and Archivist Colleen Barbus, and ALA Interim Associate Executive Director, Institutional Advancement, Programs, and Partnerships Melanie Welch to create a permanent site at the ALA Institutional Repository. LHRT Chair Jennifer Schatz Bartlett provided support and counsel.

At this writing more than 100 memorials have been contributed, and we will continue adding to this memorial. These tributes to our professional forebearers have timeless, intrinsic value. The tributes also help us find our way through the present and into the future. As William Faulkner wrote, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” The librarians of the past actively shape libraries today and, as the future unfolds, we can join with them in memory to advance our field. 

  • We can join with E.J. Josey, who fought against segregation, as we go about social justice work.
  • We can join with Henriette D. Avram at the Library of Congress who replaced ink-on-paper card catalogs and revolutionized cataloging systems at libraries worldwide.
  • We can join with William Katz, who authored the textbook that generations of reference librarians studied, by applying and expanding his theories and practices of reference service into new digital realms.
  • We can join with director of the Research Libraries at New York Public Library, Paul Fasana, who in retirement  was chief archivist of the Stonewall National Museum and Archives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
  • We can join with Carma Russell (Zimmerman) Leigh, State Librarian of California, who lobbied Congress for federal funding of public libraries.
A tribute to Mollie Huston Lee, one of the hundreds of librarians memorialized in the Librarians We Have Lost Initiative.
A tribute to Mollie Huston Lee, one of the hundreds of librarians memorialized in the Librarians We Have Lost Initiative.

The Library History Round Table, “Librarians We Have Lost:(1976–2026): A Sesquicentennial Memorial Project” Committee is proud to participate in ALA’s 150th celebration. We invite you to submit a tribute about an inspiring library worker who passed away in the past 50 years by completing the form at https://lhrt.news/librarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026-2/.

Questions or comments can be directed to me (klmccook@gmail.com) or Brett Spencer (dbs21@psu.edu).

The Committee: Anita Coleman, Susan K. Martin, Kathleen de la Peña McCook, and Brett Spencer.

 

Kathleen de la Peña McCook is Distinguished University Professor of Librarianship at the School of Information, University of South Florida.

Photo: Librarian Mollie Huston Lee, from the ALA Archives. 

150 YEARS STRONG

THE OFFICIAL ANNIVERSARY BLOG

Jessie Carney Smith in 1965, her first year as a university librarian at Fisk University in Nashville.

Blazing Trails: Stories from Pioneering Black Librarians

American Libraries June 18, 2026

In 2018, American Libraries spoke with five leading African-American librarians about their careers, the changes they have witnessed over the decades, and the current issues in librarianship. While no two people have the same story, all five interviewees note inclusivity as an important theme. They discuss libraries as safe havens, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the history and future of the Association, as well as their legacies within the profession.

A Long Legacy

Sanhita SinhaRoy June 11, 2026

While ALA’s founding is technically in October, the staff at American Libraries put on their party hats early to celebrate ALA’s 150th year with a plethora of Association and library history-related stories in the magazine’s May 2026 issue.

ALA posters

Posters of Progress: Mapping ALA’s History Through Library Poster Art

American Libraries June 9, 2026

From wartime appeals to celebrity-studded reading campaigns, library posters have long captured the evolving role of libraries in American life. This feature traces ALA’s history through some of its most iconic visuals. Together, these images chart a story of the profession’s unflinching ideals of access, literacy, and intellectual freedom, showcasing how libraries continue to reimagine their place in public life.

An index card tracking an ALA conference exhibition hall exhibitor from 1924-1947.

The Heartbeat of the Hall: 150 Years of Exhibitors Who Shaped Our Conference

ALA Conference Services June 3, 2026

Every year as the doors of ALA’s Annual Conference and Exhibition swing open, the exhibition hall comes alive. It is a ritual that has been repeated, refined, and reimagined throughout ALA’s 150-year history. And at the center of it all, providing the innovations, solutions, and partnerships that have propelled our profession forward, are the exhibitors. To mark this milestone, we look back at the rich history of exhibitors at the conference—where it began, how it grew, and why, 150 years on, the exhibition floor remains one of the most vital spaces in our professional world.

Librarian at the Reference Desk in Camp Johnston Library, from the ALA Archives.

Charles R. Green at Camp Johnston: ‘We Can Find Such a Man’

Cara Bertram May 28, 2026

During the summer of 1918, Charles Green, a librarian from the Massachusetts Agriculture College, served as the Acting Librarian for Camp Johnston in Jacksonville, Florida. While his tenure was brief, the Charles R. Green Papers in the American Library Association (ALA) Archives reveal Green’s rapid appointment and promotion. It also shows how quickly circumstances could change within the ALA’s Library War Service and the adaptability of its volunteers.