We invite tributes from anyone about any library worker who passed away between 1976-2026. To submit a tribute, please use the form at https://lhrt.news/librarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026-2/ For questions or comments, please reach out to Dr. Kathleen de la Peña McCook (kmccook@usf.edu) or Brett Spencer (dbs21@psu.edu).
History of this Memorial
Dr. Kathleen de la Peña McCook, Distinguished University Professor, School of Information, University of South Florida, began this collage of tributes to library workers as a series of posts on ALA Connect (the message board of the American Library Association) in fall 2024 in building towards the Association’s sesquicentennial. She has previously written Wikipedia pages for notable librarians, some of which are included here.
It had developed from a campaign she was leading to compile the keynote books of the field. She posted that “the recommenders of Foundational Books in Library Service included many memories of the authors. I will post about some as we prepare for the 150th anniversary of the American Library Association. Please add as you think of people in our field who made a difference to you.”
Others rallied to her call and penned essays about historic library workers that often included the authors’ personal memories of the subjects. LHRT News & Notes is honored to preserve these stories on this digital memorial. In an initiative led by Dr. Anita Coleman, the ALA Council passed a resolution encouraging members, divisions, and affiliates to contribute to the memorial. Brett Spencer, Anita Sundaram Coleman, and Susan K. Martin work on the digital memorial. Great thanks to the ALA Social Responsibilities Round Table Feminist Task Force (FTF) especially FTF member, Diedre Conkling, and the authors of the Women of Library History Project, who have submitted many of their essays to Librarians We Have Lost.
With the support of ALA Archivist Cara Bertram, the team began adding tributes from this digital memorial to ALA’s institutional repository, ALAIR, in late 2025. Graduate assistant Logan Mullins is assisting with quality control of the ALAIR collection.
All tributes are freely available to re-use with attribution in other venues.
Press Coverage of Librarians We Have Lost:
“Librarians We Have Lost-A 150th Anniversary Memorial for Librarians Who Advanced the Field.” Library Journal (volume 151): 28-29. April 2026.
Mauro, P. (2025, July 1). Council III: Strategic plan approved. American Libraries Magazine. “Librarians We Have Lost” (Resolution CD#54 – Resolution to Honor the Contributions of Librarians Commemorated in the “Librarians We Have Lost” Initiative [1976–2026], A Sesquicentennial Memorial. Project). https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/council-iii-strategic-plan-approved/
“150 Years Strong: Librarians We Have Lost.” 150th Blog, American Library Association, March 12, 2026. https://ala150.org/librarians-we-have-lost/
Rossbach, Elizabeth. “ALA Librarians We Have Lost.” University of South Florida iSchool News. https://www.usf.edu/arts-sciences/departments/information/news/2025/ala-librarians-we-have-lost.aspx
Essays by ALA Members:
Obituaries, Wikipedia Pages, and Other Sources:
These memorial links have been sent to the LHRT Committee. If a fuller tribute at the ALAIR is desired, here is our form: https://lhrt.news/librarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026-2/
Patty Campbell–Amazon Author Profile
–Author Profile on Penguin Random House
Rafaela Castro (Essay by Roberto C. Delgadillo)
Dena Julia Polacheck Epstein (Wikipedia)
–Guide to the Dena J. Epstein Collection (Columbia University)
–Interview with Dean Epstein, Voices of Illinois, By Chris D’Arpa
Rev. Michael J. Kotlanger, S.J.
Lita Jane Sheldon Mowrer (“Coco”)
A Slide Show of Images from the ALA Archives
Stroll through this slide show featuring some of the librarians featured in Librarians We Have Lost. Unless otherwise noted, the images come from the Digital Collections of the American Library Association Archives at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Most of the captions are also adapted from the ALA Archives captions or descriptions.
Dr. Frederick Nesta, University Librarian of Lingnan, Hong Kong. Bookseller. Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Information Studies at University College London. Author of three books. Image provided by Maureen Buja. 
Donald G. Davis. (ca. 1990). A giant in the field of library history, he was honored as a “gentleman and a scholar” by acolytes in a special issue of Libraries & Culture (Vol. 40, No. 3,) in 2015. The ALA Library History Round Table presents the Davis Award every two years to the best article written in English on library history. Image from ALA Archives. 
Seated: Mary Jo Lynch (ALA staff) Front Row Standing Left-to-Right: Sybil Moses, Holly Willett. Back Row: Steven Sowards, David M. Hovde, Lee Shiflett. Picture from David M. Hovde. 
Portrait of Hugh C. Atkinson for CRL News. Provided part of the foundation for modern libraries with his innovations in library automation and cooperation. Image from ALA Archives. 
Mary Somerville, ALA President (1996-97), presents Henriette Avram with an honorary life membership to the ALA for developing the MARC format, 1997. Image and caption from ALA Archives. 
University Archivist Maynard Brichford and graduate assistant Harriet Alexander with an accession of archival materials from the American Library Association headquarters for the American Library Association Archives at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Image and caption from ALA Archives. 
Clara Stanton Jones, ALA President 1976/77 (frist African-American President), embracing Virginia Lacy Jones, who received an ALA Honorary Membership at the 1976 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. Image and caption from ALA Arcives. 
ALA President Margaret E. Chisholm at the podium with Garfield at a kick-off event for the National Library Card Sign-Up Campaign. Also featured are Secretary of Education William J. Bennett, and NCLIS chairman Jerald C. Newman. Image and caption information from ALA Archives. 
Dr. Charles D. Churchwell of the University of Houston. University administrator, library science professor, and author of The Shaping of American Library Education (ALA, 1975). Image from ALA Archives. 
Eileen Cooke, Director of the Washington Office (1972-1993). Image and caption from ALA Archives. 
Eileen Cooke shakes hands with Vice President Al Gore. Image and caption from ALA Archives. 
John Lorenz and Herman Fussler at the first Japan-US Conference on Libraries and Information Science in High Education in Tokyo, Japan. Image and caption from ALA Archives. 
Caption on the back reads: “Two former ALSC presidents meet at Annual Conference. A jubilant Peggy Sullivan [right], the new ALA Executive Director, confers with Marilyn Miller [left], ALA President, at the 1992 Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder Awards Banquet in San Francisco.” Newbery-Caldecott-Wilder Banquet. Image and caption from ALA Archives. 
Program cover from the 95th Annual Conference, during the 100th anniversary of the ALA. Held at Chicago, IL, from July 18-24, 1976. Cover by Douglas Remley.