Pioneers in librarianship : sixty notable leaders who shaped the field /

This ready reference tool provides a snapshot of the history of librarianship and libraries themselves. Each of the 60 entries provides a brief but succinct overview of a notable library leader's life and contribution. Nappo (Lee County, Florida School District) notes in the foreword that he based his selection of individuals on three criteria (and an eye toward diversity): the individual created a new method for library services, was a notable person in the history of library science, or was the first woman or minority to make significant achievements in the field of library and information science. Some of the individuals chosen may be virtually unknown, and this text sheds light on these individuals and their accomplishments. This reviewer has only one minor criticism: he wishes Nappo had highlighted a few 21st-century leaders. Otherwise, this is a useful addition to the literature on library science. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, professionals. --Barbara Ghilardi, Fairfield University

The field of librarianship is young and rapidly evolving, but there are people who laid the foundations for the profession. In this volume, Nappo (Lee County, FL, School Dist.; Presidential Libraries and Museums) pays tribute to these pioneers. The 60 profiles appear in alphabetical order. Each entry is six to eight pages long with notes and a bibliography. The well-known contributors (Melvil Dewey, Charles Ammi Cutter) appear along with older contributors such as the 16th-century Belgian Aubertus Miraeus, who first made books available to the public, and Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya, Lenin's wife and the founder of Soviet librarianship. Pura Belpré, the first Puerto Rican librarian at the New York Public Library, and Carla Hayden, the first Black woman to serve as Librarian of Congress, are included as well. The entries cover the lives, educations, and major contributions of the subjects. They do not shy away from shortcomings, noting, for instance, that Dewey was known to be a racist, an antisemite, and a sexual harasser who did not give due credit to the colleagues who helped him. VERDICT A useful work that gives long overdue recognition to the library profession. Recommended for all library school professional development collections.--Barbara M. Bibel