Lawrence Quincy Mumford (December 11, 1903 – August 15, 1982) was Librarian of the United States Congress from 1954 to 1974. Events 359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office Year 1903 ( MCMIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar or a Common year starting Events 778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) The Librarian of Congress is the head of the Library of Congress, appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Mumford was born in Hanrahn, Pitt County, North Carolina to tobacco farmer Jacob Edward Mumford and Emma Luvenia Stocks Mumford. Pitt County is a County located in the US state of North Carolina. Mumford grew up working the farm alongside his 10 siblings when he was not in school. He attended Grifton High School where he excelled in debate winning school and district honors. Mumford also participated in school athletics where he played baseball and tennis. Upon graduation, Mumford was granted a tuition scholarship to attend Trinity College at Durham NC; his educational goal focused on preparing for a teaching career. Duke University is a private Research University located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Durham is a city in the US state of North Carolina. It is the County seat of Durham County
At Trinity College, Mumford followed his brother’s (Grover Mumford) lead and joined the Hesperian Society. The geology of Mars, also known as areology (from Greek grc Ἂρης Arēs, " Ares " and grc -λογία -logia As a member he continued to be active in debate, winning several distinguished awards for excellence in public speaking and debate. In addition to his oratory skills, Mumford began to hone his leadership skills in the society and over his undergraduate career eventually became president of the Hesperian Society. Outside of the society, Mumford participated in the Physics Club, Phi Beta Kappa, and acted in two dramatic productions on top of working in the library as a student assistant. The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic Honor society with the mission of "fostering and recognizing excellence" in the Undergraduate Liberal arts He graduated magna cum laude in 1925.
Mumford was offered a full time position with the library and he accepted so that he could continue to work towards a Master degree that would help with his dreams of a teaching career. Mumford completed his Master’s in English in the spring of 1928, but was at this point persuaded by assistant librarian, Louis T. Ibbotson, to go back to school and get a Bachelor’s of Library Science degree at the School of Library Science, Columbia University, New York. Columbia University is a private University in the United States and a member of the Ivy League.
In the fall of 1928, Mumford entered the School of Library Science where he was able to work part time in the library proper while completing his education. In the spring of 1929, he was offered a position with the New York Public Library (NYPL) as a reference assistant. The New York Public Library ( NYPL) is one of the leading public libraries of the world and is one of America's most significant Research libraries. Shortly afterwards, Mumford met Permelia Catherine Stevens, a children’s librarian for the NYPL system, and they were married on October 4, 1930 and had one child, a daughter, Katheryn Mumford.
Mumford spent 16 years with the New York Public Library. Starting as a reference assistant, he soon rose to take on more administrative duties. Advancing from reference to general administrative assistant, he then became chief of the cataloguing division. After a short loan to the Library of Congress where he overhauled their processing department, he returned to take up duties as the chief of preparations and ended up as the coordinator of general public services before he left in 1945 to join the Cleveland Public Library system (CPL). The Library of Congress is the De facto National library of the United States and the research arm of the United States Congress Cleveland Public Library was founded in 1869 and is located in Cleveland Ohio.
Mumford spent five years as assistant director of the CPL and became director in 1950. He was director until 1954 when he took on the helm of Librarian of Congress. His time spent at the CPL can be marked by improved growth (financially and physically) and increased public awareness and support.
In addition to his duties at the NYPL and CPS, Mumford joined the American Library Association in 1932 and became increasingly active in the association. The American Library Association ( ALA) is a group based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally His efforts with various ALA committees and his work with the Film Council of America and the Great Books Foundation led to his nomination and selection as President of the American Library Association in 1954. The Great Books Foundation, incorporated in the state of Illinois and based in Chicago, is an independent nonprofit Educational organization whose mission His inaugural address to ALA clearly speaks of his commitment to Library Service:
"The task ahead is to offer the opportunity for continuing education through life, to enlarge the means of access to books through an ever-broadening pattern of facilities and services. The task ahead is to provide the materials and resources of education for better living, to help people to become more proficient in their chosen fields of work, balanced and enriched in their private lives, to the end that they may bring their skills and humanity to the service of society as a whole. "
"We should not lose sight of the fact that maintaining man’s right to knowledge and freedom to choose his reading is an empty achievement if we do not make available to him the material from which he can select and choose…Freedom to read is an academic right, important as a principle, but meaningless in effect unless library resources are made available to those who lack them. "
Mumford spent a year as ALA President and during this time helped to streamline management of the association and oversaw the establishment of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for substantial and lasting contributions to literature for children. The Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal is a prize awarded by the American Library Association to writers or illustrators of children's books published in the U
Two months after Mumford’s inauguration as president of the ALA, he began his 20 year tenure as the first professionally trained Librarian of Congress. The Librarian of Congress is the head of the Library of Congress, appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. Mumford was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on April 22, 1954 and was confirmed by the Senate on July 29, 1954. Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14 1890 – March 28 1969 was President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 and a five-star general He was sworn into office using the 1782 Aiken Bible (the first complete bible printed in English in the independent United States) and officially began his first day on September, 1, 1954.
The years prior to Mumford’s appointment reveal hampered library relationships with the United States Congress; appropriations were down and Congress felt that the Library of Congress was no longer serving its needs. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses In addition, new information and technology were placing ever-growing demands on the services of the library.
As Librarian of Congress, Mumford was able to use his oratorical skills to repair vital relationships, rebuild Congressional confidence in the library and gain much needed appropriations to improve functions and programming. During the first ten years of his appointment appropriations more than doubled, the case for more space (a new building) was developed and put before the Joint Committee on the Library, work was started in the development of cataloging in publication and research was completed on machine-readable cataloging systems; Public Law 480 was established and helped bring about international cataloging standards. Public Law 480 also known as Food for Peace (and commonly abbreviated PL 480)is a funding avenue by which US food can be used for overseas aid
In his personal life, Mumford’s wife, Permelia died in 1961. Mumford later married Mrs. Betsy Perrin Fox on November, 28, 1969.
During his second ten year term, Mumford saw much of his effort and many of the programs he had implemented come to fruition. The most notable being the construction of the James Madison Memorial Building that started in 1971 and continued after Mumford’s retirement in 1974. The James Madison Memorial Building is one of three buildings that make up the Library of Congress and is part of the United States Capitol Complex. It was finally completed in 1980. Other achievements include a nine-fold total increase in appropriations, the establishment of the National Program for Acquisitions and Cataloging (NPAC), completion and distribution of the Machine-Readable Cataloging (MARC) system, an increase in services for handicapped readers, expansion of legislative research into the more dedicated Congressional Research Service, final publication of the Pre-1956 National Union Catalog, completion of the Presidential Papers Program, development of preservation programs and the establishment of the Preservation Research Laboratory, the expansion of motion picture programs, the addition of an African section and a Children’s Book section, development of National Referral Center for Science and Technology, the establishment of the American Revolution Bicentennial Office and the development of the Affirmative Action Plan that provided for equality, training and scholarship of Library of Congress staff. The Congressional Research Service (CRS is the Public policy research arm of the United States Congress. The National Union Catalog (NUC is a printed catalog of books catalogued by the Library of Congress and other American and Canadian libraries issued serially beginning in the Affirmative action in the United States|Employment equity (Canada|Reservation in India|Numerus clausus The term affirmative action describes many policies aimed at a historically
Lawrence Quincy Mumford died on August 15, 1982 in Washington, D.C.
References
- Benjamin E. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Powell, “Lawrence Quincy Mumford, twenty years of progress”, The Quarterly Journal of the Library of Congress; 1976, Vol 33, p S. 269-287.
- Art Plotnik, “Twenty years on the Hill; An Anniversary Interview with L. Quincy Mumford, Librarian of Congress: 1954 to the present (1974)”, Wilson Library Bulletin; Jan 1974, Vol. 48 Issue 5, pages 388-404.
- Lawrence Q. Mumford, Inaugural Address ALA, July 1954, quoted in “Mumford Retires”, American Libraries; Mar 75, Vol. 6 Issue 3, p137.
- Lawrence Q. Mumford, Inaugural Address ALA, July 1954, quoted in Peggy Sullivan, “Speaking Across a Century”, American Libraries; Jun/Jul 2007, Vol 38 Issue 6, p78-80.
- "Mumford Retires”, American Libraries; Mar 75, Vol. 6 Issue 3, p137.
- Wilder Medal, “The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award”, Association for Library Service to Children, American Library Association, https://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/wildermedal/wildermedal.htm
| Government offices | ||
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| Preceded by Luther H. Evans |
Librarian of Congress 1954 - 1974 |
Succeeded by Daniel J. Boorstin |
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