Another wonderful essay about a historic librarian by Dr. Anita Coleman posted on ALA Connect this past week…

---

Dear Colleagues, 

It’s Election Day and we’ve a lot on our minds. So I took time to remember Dr. Brett Sutton for Librarians We Have Lost (ALA Sesquicentennial Memories, 1976 – 2026). Enjoy.

Professor Brett Sutton (March 13, 1948 – August 4, 2018) taught my first doctoral seminar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, setting a high standard for scholarship and kindness that is unforgettable and continues to guide me today. A dedicated field anthropologist, folklorist, and librarian, Brett’s work spanned from his pioneering research on African American spiritual folk singing in North Carolina to his visionary contributions to library and information science. His archival efforts reflected a deep commitment to preserving and promoting cultural heritage, while his academic endeavors expanded the methodologies of anthropology within information science. The finding aid for the Brett Sutton Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill provides details of his full education (Ph.D. in Anthropology, Masters in Library Science), and early accomplishments as a folklorist and librarian, the more unusual of which I share first:

“Along with Sutton’s numerous articles, books, and papers on religious folksongs (1986-1988), he participated in radio and film documentaries. As an audio engineer for WUNC public radio, he worked on a five-part series on North Carolina folklife that includes The Golden Echoes of Creedmore, N.C. and Being A Joines: Brushy Mountain Tale Teller. Sutton, along with Joan Fenton, initiated Back Porch Music, WUNC’s popular weekend music program, and in 1986, he contributed sound recordings for A Singing Stream, a film by Tom Davenport.” (Source: Finding Aids, UNC.)

Brett’s gentle and caring nature drew students to him instantly. He was an accomplished musician who played many instruments. He and his wife, Ellen—a fellow librarian and educator—created a warm, familial environment, generously opening their home to us. Their hospitality made us feel valued and supported, transforming gatherings into enriching experiences as meaningful as any formal class.

One of Brett’s many gifts to me was a Christmas music CD, which I still play each year, pausing to remember his humor and kindness. I can vividly picture him accompanying me on the many flights of stairs in David Kinley Hall, where the GSLIS classrooms and offices were located. At the top, he would joke about being too old for such a climb! He exemplified quiet yet profound empathy, often stepping in to alleviate minor challenges while consistently treating students with respect and care, a rarity in academia.

Though I only took one class with him, his guidance in my doctoral research was invaluable, leading me to publish my first peer-reviewed articles and solidifying my path as a mixed-methods researcher. He encouraged me to consult literature from various disciplines—especially anthropology, which he taught me to appreciate. The influence of his mentorship continues to resonate in my work today.

Brett’s scholarly legacy includes his seminal works: The Rationale for Qualitative Research: A Review of Principles and Theoretical Foundations, published in 1993 in The Library Quarterly, and his editorial contributions to Networks, Open Access, and Virtual Libraries: Implications for the Research Library (1992). The latter, which I cited in my doctoral dissertation, was prescient in its insights into virtual access, open resources, and “documents that come with their own processing tools,” laying the groundwork that continues to shape libraries. As noted by Karen Drabenstott in her report, Analytical Review of the Library of the Future, Brett’s work has had a lasting impact on the profession.

After graduation, life took us in different directions, and we corresponded only briefly. Brett became the Dean of Information Services at Aurora University (Ill). I had always intended to reconnect and thank him properly, but hearing of his passing last year brought a wave of reflection. Brett’s impact lives on, not only in the students and colleagues he mentored but also in our professions, perhaps even more profoundly than he realized. Librarians are the unsung architects of society, wielding the power of knowledge to transform lives; Brett Sutton’s enduring influence is a testament to the profound impact that dedicated educators have in a world that often overlooks their contributions.

For those interested in exploring Brett’s body of work related to his folklore research and musical contributions, more information is available through the Brett Sutton Collection (see References below).

My heartfelt condolences go to Brett’s family and all who knew him. May you find comfort in knowing that his legacy endures through the many lives he touched and the indelible mark he left on our profession. 

If you knew Brett or his wife Ellen, a lifelong librarian, I hope you will share your memories. These were two awesome people who made our world a better place. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks.

Warm Regards,

Anita

Anita S. Coleman, PhD | Infophilia | Antiracism Digital Library & Thesaurus | iSchool@UIUC

References:

Brett and Ellen’s family-maintained forever memorial site: https://www.forevermissed.com/brett-sutton/ and https://www.forevermissed.com/ellen-dawson-sutton/

Brett Sutton Collection, 1974 – 1975. https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/20041/#d1e111

Sutton: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/602619 and https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/004930799

Drabenstott: https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/58006/Analytical_review_of_the_library_of_the_future.pdf?sequence=1

Coleman: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/226188.226203

The 2025 awards cycle for ALA’s Library History Roundtable Phyllis Dain Award will open in January.  The submission deadline for this award cycle is January 31, 2025.

 Library History Round Table (LHRT) of the American Library Association (ALA) sponsors the biennial Phyllis Dain Library History Dissertation Award. The award, named in honor of a library historian widely known as a supportive advisor and mentor as well as a rigorous scholar and thinker, recognizes outstanding dissertations in English in the general area of library history. The author of the selected dissertation will receive a certificate and five hundred dollars.

Dissertations completed and accepted during the preceding two academic years are eligible. Dissertations completed in 2023 and 2024 will be considered for the 2025 award cycle.

Dissertations must be original research on a significant topic relating to the history of libraries during any period, in any region of the world. Entries are judged on clear definition of research questions and/or hypotheses, use of appropriate primary resources, depth of research, superior quality of writing, and significance of conclusions. The LHRT is particularly interested in dissertations that place the subject within its broader historical, social, cultural, and political context and that make interdisciplinary connections with print culture and/or information studies.

Submissions for the next award cycle will open in January 2025. Applicants will be asked to submit one electronic copy of the approved and signed dissertation and a signed letter of support from the doctoral advisor or dissertation committee chair at the degree-granting institution.

For more information, please visit: https://www.ala.org/lhrt/awards/phyllis-dain-library-history-dissertation-award

——————————
Deborah Smith
Executive Director
Jones Memorial Library
——————————

Sharing this beautiful essay by Dr. Coleman about Pauline Atherton from ALA Connect…it will help us reflect on the past and guide the future!

---

Dear Colleagues,

As ALA’s Sesquicentennial in 2026 approaches, I revisited two of Pauline Atherton’s seminal works, through an AI-driven lens. This milestone is a unique opportunity to reflect on the leaders who have shaped our profession.

Using the Eleven Labs AI Text Reader, I first listened to Pauline’s Sarada Ranganathan Endowment Lectures (SRELS) given in India (1970), published in Putting Knowledge to Work (1973), and digitized for dLIST Classics in 2007 (cover attached). Hearing her words through an American AI voice was both moving and illuminating—a modern way to engage with her vision using technology she would have embraced.

Pauline’s insights continue to resonate, especially as we explore responsible AI use in enhancing library services. I had the privilege of being Pauline’s first graduate teaching assistant at the University of Illinois. In her opening lecture at SRELS, she explained why she called herself an “apostle of Ranganathan,” humorously recounting her journey from initial skepticism about his Five Laws to becoming its dedicated advocate in the United States—a story she also shared with me. 🙂  By the time I met her in 1992, she’d already had a distinguished career, from ASIS President to pioneering mechanized information systems, OPACs, and traveling widely, bridging traditional librarianship with emerging technologies—a legacy of adapting knowledge to serve people. Listening to her lectures through the Eleven Reader app made historical scholarship both accessible and engaging, embodying the vision that both Ranganathan and Atherton championed: the dynamic evolution of library and information science.

Linda Smith’s metaphor of AI as a “human intermediary” aptly frames AI as a tool that augments our ability to make information accessible. With AI’s support for diverse languages, including Tamil, we now have new pathways for connecting with knowledge across linguistic and cultural boundaries, embodying Ranganathan’s fifth law: “The library is a growing organism.”

Pauline’s 1992 reflection in Libri—she gifted me a signed copy of her Information Technology in Libraries and Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science, which had just come out—invites us to welcome change and simplify knowledge systems: “We introduced complicated procedures… we came to realize it was our responsibility to make them easier to use.”  Inspired by Pauline and her extension of SRR’s “book” laws to IT, I once proposed the corollary: “The growing library experiences pain!” —a humorous reflection on the challenges we face adapting to ever changing systems.

Pauline’s insights remain especially relevant today as we consider how to use AI responsibly to enhance library services while honoring our foundational principles.

How do you envision AI being applied to advance our mission of connecting people with knowledge? What innovative ways can we use these tools to better serve our communities and thoughtfully preserve diverse knowledge traditions?

For those interested, Pauline Atherton’s Putting Knowledge to Work is available full-text in the dLIST repository (University of Arizona, Tucson), and she has a Wikipedia page, thanks to Kathleen McCook.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Warm regards,

Anita

Anita S. Coleman, PhD | Infophilia | Antiracism Digital Library & Thesaurus | iSchool@UIUC