Lawrence Quincy Mumford
Lawrence Quincy Mumford (born December 11, 1903 in Ayden , Pitt County , North Carolina , † August 15, 1982 in Washington, DC ) was an American librarian . He directed the Library of Congress for 20 years .
Life
Lawrence Mumford grew up on a tobacco farm in North Carolina. He graduated from Duke University and later from Columbia University . There he made his degree in library science in 1929. He then worked for 16 years in the New York Public Library . In 1945 he moved to the Cleveland Public Library and became its director in 1950. From 1954 to 55 he was President of the American Library Association . In April 1954 he was nominated by US President Dwight D. Eisenhower for the post of Librarian of Congress and confirmed by the Senate on July 24th . He was the first trained librarian in this role, which he held until his retirement on December 31, 1974.
Mumford was a negotiator and had good relations with Congressmen. During his tenure, the library's annual budget increased tenfold to over $ 96 million, the workforce increased from 1,564 to 4,250, and the media inventory grew from 33 million to 74 million. In 1965 his proposed new construction of the James Madison Memorial Building was approved, but construction did not begin until 1971.
literature
- Benjamin E. Powell: Lawrence Quincy Mumford, twenty years of progress. In: The quarterly journal of The Library of Congress. 33. 1976, pp. 269-287
Web links
Beckley | Magruder | Watterston | Meehan | Stephenson | Spofford | Young | Putnam | MacLeish | Evans | Mumford | Boorstin | Billington | Hayden
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Mumford, Lawrence Quincy |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American librarian, director of the Library of Congress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 11, 1903 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | near Ayden , Pitt County , North Carolina |
| DATE OF DEATH | 15th August 1982 |
| Place of death | Washington, DC |