Christian A. Nappo - Pioneers in Librarianship: Sixty Notable Leaders Who Shaped the Field

Christian A. Nappo teaches for the Lee County, Florida, School District and holds an MA in library and information science from the University of South Florida. He also holds an MS in criminal justice from the University of Alabama and an MA in history from the University of Nebraska, Kearney. Previous books include Librarians of Congress (2016) and Presidential Libraries and Museums (2018), both published by Rowman & Littlefield.

As I write this book, I want to make an effort to thank the following individuals for their assistance:

Laura Ripper of the UK

Dr. Yuhua Su of Hawaii

Su Chen, Head, Richard C. Rudolph East Asian Library, UCLA

Paul Thomas of the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University

Barbara Ilie, North Carolina Collection Librarian, Durham County Library

Paul Burns, Communications Director, Louisville Free Public Library

Kemberly A.M. Lang, OCLC Library Manager and Corporate Archivist, OCLC Library, Dublin, Ohio.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Nappo, Christian A., 1976- author.

Title: Pioneers in librarianship : sixty notable leaders who shaped the field / Christian A. Nappo.

Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, [2022] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022010983 (print) | LCCN 2022010984 (ebook) | ISBN 9781538148754 (cloth) | ISBN 9781538148761 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: LibrariansBiography. | LCGFT: Biographies.

Classification: LCC Z720.A1 N37 2022 (print) | LCC Z720.A1 (ebook) | DDC 020.92/2dc23/eng/20220521

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022010983

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022010984

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

The collective biographies in this book are those of librarians: not just ordinary librarians, but pioneers in their profession. I was inspired to write this book when I came across the medieval Rule of Saint Ferrol of Uzs (AD 530581): [The monk] who does not turn up the earth with the plow ought to write the parchment with his fingers. The importance of the rule for monks was that writing was considered to be manual labor just like farming.

In early medieval times, monks worked in special writing rooms called scriptoriums, where they spent months or years copying out manuscripts word for word. Intrigued, I began researching how far back libraries go in world history. The earliest known library was that of King Ashurbanipal (669631 BC), who had a personal collection of clay tablets in Mesopotamia.

One of the books on which this collection is modeled is Pioneers and Leaders in Library Services to Youth: A Biographical Dictionary, edited by Marilyn L. Miller and published in 2003 by Libraries Unlimited. Although it is structured in a similar way, this book chronicles the careers of librarians from a wide range of service contexts in library history. My book is a ready-reference monograph of the biographies of sixty pioneering men and women whose contributions have shaped the field of library and information science. In many ways, this book is not just about libraries; it is also about the human spirit and our continued desire to seek knowledge and share it with our fellow human beings.

When considering which librarians to include in this book, I used three criteria. First, and naturally, librarians who conceived a new method for improving library services, invented their own method of book cataloging, or devised an administrative system for libraries to operate under. Two, the librarian is historically famous because he/she was notable historically. Three, the librarian was one of the first women or minorities to make significant achievements within the field of LIS. Although there are many other librarians who deserve a place in this book, due to the limited information available about them it would not have been possible to do them justice. In addition, library closures during the COVID-19 pandemic made it challenging to access material on the librarians who were included. In some cases, I had to make do with reference material that I could readily access.

This book is primarily a ready-reference book for graduate students of library and information science. They will find this book useful when writing papers and reports on prominent librarians. This book is also aimed at library historians and world historians who are interested in the history of librarianship. The future of library and information science looks bright, as libraries across the world use technology to improve access, share information, and provide new services to the public. It is my hope that this book will inspire others to become the trailblazers of that promising future.

Christian A. Nappo

. John Bonaventure OConnor, Monasticism and Civilization (New York: P.J. Kennedy & Sons, 1921), 118.

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. Luciano Canfora, The Vanished Library: A Wonder of the Ancient World (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1990), 24, 39.

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Canfora, Luciano. The Vanished Library: A Wonder of the Ancient World. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1990.

OConnor, John Bonaventure. Monasticism and Civilization. New York: P.J. Kennedy & Sons, 1921.

Pura Teresa Belpr was the first Puerto Rican librarian to be employed by the New York Public Library. At the library, she used her storytelling and puppeteer skills to reach out to New York Citys growing Puerto Rican population. Her legacy continues to this day through her childrens books based on Puerto Rican folklore and an award created in her honor by the American Library Association.

Pura Belpr was born in Puerto Rico, on February 2, 1899, less than a year after the end of the Spanish-American War. In that same year, the island of Puerto Rico became an American territory. Researchers Vicki L. Ruiz and Virginia Snchez Korrol state that biographical information about Belprs childhood and early adolescence on the island is scarce,

Pura was educated at Central High School in Santurce, part of the municipality of San Juan in Puerto Rico. Looking back on her childhood, she recalled that she began telling stories while she was at school: