LHRT (Library History Round Table)

Carl Vitz (1883 – 1981) was President of the American Library Association  in 1945-1946. 

His book , A Federal Library Agency and Federal Library Aid, published by the American Library Association in 1935 was foundational to development of federal support for libraries.

Vitz  was library director of  three major public libraries:

•  Toledo-Lucas County Public Library (1922–1937)
• Minneapolis Public Library (1937–1945)
•  Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (1946–1955)

Over his career, Vitz planned or consulted on more that 60 library projects, involving site selection, remodeling, and construction. He was also president of the Ohio Library Association from 1920 to 1921. 

In addition to his presidency of the American Library Association, Vitz served on the ALA Council, Board on Service to Children and Young People, Federal Relations Committee, Finance Committee, and Library Branches in Schools Committee.

Vitz wrote a letter to the President of the United States on behalf of the profession, addressing potential candidates for the vacant position of Librarian of Congress. In the letter, Vitz suggested that the position "requires a top-flight administrator, a statesman-like leader in the world of knowledge, and an expert in bringing together the materials of scholarship and organizing them for use-in short, a distinguished librarian."

Carl Vitz was honored with the  J.W.  Lippincott Award from ALA in 1952.

Selected Publications:

Vitz, Carl Peter Paul. 

• Circulation work. American Library Association, 1927.
• Current problems in public library finance. American Library Association, 1933.
• A Federal Library Agency and Federal Library Aid. Chicago: American Library Association, 1935.
• Demobilization and the library, the library's part in military and industrial readjustment: a working memorandum. American Library Association, 1943.
• "Re: Librarian of Congress."  ALA Bulletin. 39 (2): 62. 1945. 

Sources:

John Mark Tucker, "Vitz, Carl Peter Paul (1883-1981)," in Supplement to the Dictionary of American Library Biography, ed. Wayne A. Wiegand. (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1990), 144-148.

Compton, Charles H. "Looking Toward Greater Federal Participation in Library Development." Bulletin of the American Library Association 29, no. 2 (1935): 57–59.

Vitz, Carl (1883-1981) | The American Library Association Archives

Joseph W. Lippincott Award.

 

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Kathleen de la Peña McCook
Distinguished University Professor
School of Information
University of South Florida
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