Clifford Lynch (d. 2025): The Librarian's Librarian
Clifford Lynch was a giant in the world of information science, digital libraries, and library technology. Yet there's no record of him ever earning a Master of Library Science (MLS) degree or its equivalent. Numerous official biographies, professional retrospectives, and recent tributes-including the Festschrift published as a supplement to Volume 25(3) July 2025 of portal: Libraries and the Academy-from the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), UC Berkeley, the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T), and beyond, unanimously highlight his educational background as follows:
- Bachelor's in Mathematics and Computer Science from Columbia College
- M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley, respectively
Clifford Lynch's Ph.D. dissertation, titled Managing a Massive Data Base on an OLAP System, was completed in 1987 at UC Berkeley. According to the UC Berkeley Library's Electronic Theses and Dissertations archive and citations related to his dissertation, his Ph.D. advisor was Michael A. Harrison, a computer scientist specializing in databases and information management.
Lynch's career was deeply rooted in libraries. He spent 18 years at the University of California Office of the President's Division of Library Automation, serving as its director for 10 years. During his tenure, he spearheaded the groundbreaking MELVYL online library catalog, which paved the way for modern library automation. It was during this period that I first heard him speak, and I was struck by the genuine reverence his library audiences showed him-he was quite literally the rock star of the library profession. Like many in the profession, I was initially drawn to his compelling advocacy for libraries in the digital age and his ability to articulate our field's potential in ways that inspired genuine excitement.
Lynch then served as executive director of the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) from 1997 until 2025. His work during this period was instrumental in shaping digital scholarship and information services, making him a pivotal figure in the evolution of library technology and information management. Though I never had the opportunity to meet him personally, it was during a part of this period, 1998-2008, when I was most active in open access advocacy. As my own involvement in digital libraries deepened, I came to question some of his positions, particularly regarding institutional repositories and their role in democratizing access to scholarship. Lynch appeared to favor approaches that, in my view, prioritized institutional frameworks over more distributed, discipline-specific solutions like the dLIST and dl-Harvest projects I led. His outlook was naturally shaped by his professional roles at major research institutions and CNI. Though we never had the opportunity to meet or discuss our differentstances-e.g. my concern for smaller academic libraries and learned societies in a disrupted digital publishing field over the long term, especially for the field of LIS-I respect his thoughtful engagement with fundamental questions about the future of scholarly communication.
Lynch also served as an adjunct professor at the UC Berkeley School of Information and maintained extensive involvement with the library, archives, and information science communities throughout his career. His contributions were widely recognized within the American Library Association (ALA) community-he received the Joseph W. Lippincott Award and was honored with the 2012 LITA/Library Hi Tech Award, presented at the LITA President's Program during the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, California (I'd left academia by then). He was a much sought-after speaker at conferences in the library and information technology field, including those affiliated with ALA.
A few days after his passing, my doctoral advisor Linda Smith (iSchool@Illinois) shared the CNI announcement along with the Clifford Lynch Interview with Michael Upsall from the Against the Grain Video Podcast (Charleston Hub, Sept. 8, 2024, 51 mins 36 seconds). Watching a visibly aged Lynch in that final interview, speaking in his characteristic gentle voice about how he first became involved with libraries, was moving. While he had enjoyed mathematics, it was Snoball 4-a text manipulation language-that first drew him into library work. His story resonated with me, as my own path to library automation had similarly begun with early computing languages like Waterloo Script-a document formatting system. This shared passion for the intersection of humanities and technology connected Lynch with countless others who believe in libraries as transformative institutions.
Despite his extensive contributions and deep connections with libraries, all records confirm that he never held an MLS degree. Instead, he was often referred to as a "librarian's librarian." This moniker underscores his role as a leader and innovator in digital libraries and knowledge infrastructures, transcending formal library science credentials through the depth of his impact.
The honors and tributes dedicated to his memory further underscore his transformative influence on libraries and library automation. These tributes highlight how his background in computer science, combined with his practical and strategic work, positioned him as a visionary leader in librarianship whose impact extends far beyond traditional academic credentials.
It is for these reasons that I offer this tribute and submit Clifford Lynch's name for inclusion in "Librarians We Have Lost, 1976-2026" for the ALA Sesquicentennial digital memorial archive-honoring not just his technical brilliance, but his deep commitment to the great academic and research libraries as essential institutions for human knowledge and discovery.
--Submitted by Anita Sundaram Coleman, PhD | Infophilia, A Positive Psychology of Information
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In honor of the Sesquicentennial (150th Anniversary of ALA) in 2026, the Library History Round Table is hosting Librarians We Have Lost, Sesquicentennial Memories -1976-2026. This collage of tributes seeks to honor librarians who died between 1976-2026. The tributes are published to ALA Connect and a digital memorial on LHRT News & Notes (https://lhrt.news/librarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026/).
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 McCook (kmccook@usf.edu) or Brett Spencer (dbs21@psu.edu).
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Brett Spencer
Reference Librarian
Thun Library, Penn State Berks
He/Him/His
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