Arthur Curley was an American librarian

Librarian

A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...

. He was listed as one of the 100 most important library leaders of the 20th century by the journal American Libraries

American Libraries

American Libraries is the official news and features magazine of the American Library Association. Published six times per year, along with four additional digital-only supplements, it is distributed to all members of the organization...

.

Early life and education

Arthur Curley was born January 22, 1938, in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 to Irish parents. His mother is credited with having high expectations for him and for correctly presuming that he would attend the prestigious Boston Latin secondary school. Later, he studied political science at Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, graduating in 1959 before earning his M.L.S. at Simmons College

Simmons College (Massachusetts)

Simmons College, established in 1899, is a private women's undergraduate college and private co-educational graduate school in Boston, Massachusetts.-History:Simmons was founded in 1899 with a bequest by John Simmons a wealthy clothing manufacturer in Boston...

 in 1962.

Career

His first position in a library was at the Connolly branch of the Boston Public Library system in a so called “pre-professional position” but by the time he had earned his library degree he was already appointed as the director of the Avon Public library

Avon Public Library (Massachusetts)

The Avon Public Library is a public library in Avon, Massachusetts.-External links:* http://www.avonpubliclibrary.org/* . Articles about the library* . Posts about the library* http://www.flickr.com/photos/marc72/4154489382/...

 where he worked from 1961 to 1964. Though it was a directorship in title, he was the only employee of the library and was responsible for virtually every component of the library.

Throughout his career he remained primarily in the Atlantic North East and Mid-West regions, typically taking positions as deputy director or director. Notably he “served as deputy director of the New York Public Library

New York Public Library

The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...

 Research Libraries in 1980-1985 and deputy director of public services at Detroit Public Library

Detroit Public Library

The Detroit Public Library is the second largest library system in Michigan by volumes held , and is the 20th largest library system in the United States. It is composed of a Main Library on Woodward Avenue, which houses DPL administration offices, and twenty-three branch locations across the city...

 from 1997 to 1980.” His most notable career accomplishments include his election as President of the American Library Association

American Library Association

The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....

 in 1994 and his service as the director of the Boston Public Library

Boston Public Library

The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was the first publicly supported municipal library in the United States, the first large library open to the public in the United States, and the first public library to allow people to...

 from 1985 until 1996.

His vision for the role of libraries in society

He was known to be politically astute and was tremendously concerned with how the function of the library as an institution was viewed by the public. Although he understood the important role of providing information he was emphatic that libraries needed to be seen first and foremost as “humanistic institutions”. He saw libraries as embodying the best of America’s hopes and as the physical “repository of their values and aspirations” for each and every community. As such, he believed that a strong commitment to collection building based on community needs was essential at every library and he was fiercely critical of “libraries [that] lowered their collection building sights in the name of resource-sharing or ‘access over ownership’”.

His belief in the power of libraries as valuable community institutions was enormous. During a speech he remarked,

I have always felt that I could go into any town, community, hamlet anywhere in this country, and if you blindfolded me so I didn’t know what community I was in, took me into the public library and suddenly took the blindfold off and let me look around for about ten minutes I think I could tell you more about the values of that community than I could derive from countless hours spent poring over census tracts and other sources of statistical information about it. Why? Because a library is a representative of intangible values and those intangible values more than ever are important to us as a society at this time.

.

View of technology

Despite his love of the cultural aspects a library can provide he was in no way technophobic. He encouraged librarians to see their work and especially their role as a key part of the information revolution. Imploring his peers in 1994 at a symposium at Rutgers School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies he said, “We need to be people for whom this is one more technological development, like the telephone or the electric typewriter, which we view with optimism because it will help us to do our jobs." However, he was particularly concerned with how this new technology and new forms of media could further divide populations based on class and other social factors depending on the relative levels of access. It was his belief that technological improvements should “arise from public commitment rather than fortuitous private philanthropy”.

Lasting influence within the ALA

In addition to being widely regarded as one of the most eloquent library advocates, his energy and achievement for committee work within library organizations were enormous. When he became president of ALA in 1994 he ran on the theme “Libraries: An American Value” platform. Presently, he may be best known for the lecture series bearing his name, the Arthur Curley Memorial Lecture, devoted to the same theme that takes place each mid-winter meeting. He was a founding member of ALA’s Social Responsibility Round Table which exists to make the ALA more democratic and to equip librarians to help address social inequality and other human rights issues. He was also chair of the Intellectual Freedom Committee from 1991 to 1994. During his presidency he founded Library Advocacy Now, which has facilitated important training for library advocates. Rather than merely promoting best practices “for Curley, LAN represented the first step of a grassroots effort of the ALA’s ‘awaking to activism’.” His legacy will certainly be enduring and the rhetorical force of his visions for the role libraries can have in society continues to be important for many librarians and library advocates.

External links

• Arthur Curley Librarian Leaders in Intellectual Freedom