The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world.
In the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the National Honor Society of the Boy Scouts of America. Chiefly, the term refers to scholastic honor societies, those that recognize students who excel academically or as leaders among their peers, often within a specific academic discipline.
Mu Phi Epsilon (ΜΦΕ) is a co-ed international professional music fraternity. It has over 75,000 members in 227 collegiate chapters and 113 alumni chapters in the US and abroad.
Beta Phi Mu is the international honor society for library & information science and information technology. Founded by a group of librarians and library educators, the society's express purpose is to recognize and encourage "superior academic achievement" among library and information studies students. Beta Phi Mu now has 39 active chapters in the U.S. and abroad, continues to sponsor various publications and funds several scholarships.
Robert Gordon Vosper was an American educator and librarian who oversaw college libraries at the University of Kansas and the University of California, Los Angeles. Vosper served as president of the American Library Association (ALA) and won the Joseph W. Lippincott award in 1985. He was also named one of the top 100 librarians of the 20th century by American Libraries. He was awarded American Library Association Honorary Membership in 1993.
Robert Bingham Downs was an American writer and librarian. Downs was an advocate for intellectual freedom, and spent the majority of his career working against literary censorship. Downs authored many books and publications regarding the topics of censorship, and on the topics of responsible and efficient leadership in the library context.
Information activism at libraries and among librarians began in the 1960s, when many libraries advocated for the information rights of their clients. Their activism projects thereafter extended beyond library walls to advocate for issues such as tenancy and labour rights. With the advent of new information technologies and the information explosion of the late 20th century, information activism expanded in scope to include people who utilize information in the service of advocacy.
Ralph Robert Shaw was a librarian, a publisher, and an innovator in library science. In 1999, American Libraries named him one of the "100 Most Important Leaders We Had in the 20th Century". He was awarded the Melvil Dewey Medal in 1953 and American Library Association Honorary Membership in 1971.
Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas without restriction. Viewed as an integral component of a democratic society, intellectual freedom protects an individual's right to access, explore, consider, and express ideas and information as the basis for a self-governing, well-informed citizenry. Intellectual freedom comprises the bedrock for freedoms of expression, speech, and the press and relates to freedoms of information and the right to privacy.
The Beta Phi Mu Award is an annual prize recognizing an individual for distinguished service to education for librarianship. First bestowed in 1954, Award recipients include various prominent leaders in the field of librarianship. The Award is sponsored by the international honor society Beta Phi Mu, founded in 1948 to promote scholastic achievement among library and information science students.
Kathleen de la Peña McCook is a library scholar and librarian. Much of her work centers around human rights, First Amendment issues, and the freedom of information.
Dr. Vicki L. Gregory is professor emeritus at the School of Information at the University of South Florida (USF). She and was director of the School from 1999 until 2007. Her fields of specialization include: academic libraries, digital librarianship, technical services, information science, library networking, library automation, and collection development. Prior to teaching at USF Dr. Gregory was Director of Systems and Operations for the Auburn University at Montgomery Library. She is currently President of Beta Phi Mu. She was Treasurer for the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) and the winner of the 2014 Watson Davis Award. She is also the author, co-author, or editor of seven books and has published numerous articles.
Martha Boaz was an American librarian. She earned a B.S. in Library Science in 1937 from George Peabody College. She was the assistant librarian at Carrier Library, then known as Madison Memorial Library, from 1940 to 1949. The library was at James Madison University, then known as Madison College. She received her master's degree in library science in 1950 and her PhD in library science in 1955, both from the University of Michigan. She was the first woman and the third person to earn a PhD in library science from the University of Michigan. She was the dean of the University of Southern California School of Library Science from 1955 to 1978, its longest-serving dean as of 2005, and some of her records are held at the University Archives of the University of Southern California. She also served as president of the California Library Association from 1962 to 1963, chair of its Research Committee from 1958 to 1960, chair of its Intellectual Freedom Committee from 1964 to 1966, president of its Library Education Division from 1968 to 1969, on its board of directors in 1972, and as its chair of the Council of Deans from 1977 to 1978.
Edward G. Holley was an American librarian, library historian and educator. Holley graduated from David Lipscomb College in Nashville, Tennessee in 1949 with a bachelor's degree in English. In 1951 he graduated from George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tennessee with a master's in library science. Holley went on to receive his Ph.D. in library science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1961. He wrote, Charles Evans : American Bibliographer.
Elizabeth W. Stone was an American librarian and educator and president of the American Library Association from 1981 to 1982. In 1988 she was awarded Honorary Membership in the American Library Association. In 1998 she was honored with the Beta Phi Mu Award for distinguished service to education for librarianship.
Beverly P. Lynch is an American scholar, professor, librarian, and administrator. She was president of the American Library Association from 1985 to 1986.
Maurice J. (Mitch) Freedman is an American librarian best known for his advocacy for socially responsible cataloging and library technologies, as well as for championing the cause of intellectual freedom. He served as president of the American Library Association from 2002 to 2003.
Radical Reference is a distributed collective of library workers, students and information activists who work on social justice issues. They provide professional research support, education and access to information to activist communities, progressive organizations, and independent journalists who they describe as their "patron base".
Elaine Harger is an American librarian. She was the first recipient of the Herb Biblo Outstanding Leadership Award for Social Justice and Equality in 2022.
