LHRT (Library History Round Table)

Dr. Lowell A. Martin (1912–2003)

"The American Library Association bestowed its highest degree of Honorary Membership on Lowell Martin, educator, librarian, teacher, and dean at the inaugural banquet of the American Library Association, during its annual conference held in Dallas. Dr. Lowell Martin's long and prestigious career included: Associate Dean, Graduate School of Library Service Columbia ' University. Dean, Graduate School of Library Service, Rutgers ' University; and vice-president, Grolier, Inc. Dr. Martin is the author of Library Response to Urban Change: a Study of the Chicago Public Library, Public Administration and the Library and Personnel Administration in the Library. The citation presented to Dr. Martin reads in part:

"As writer, researcher, editor, surveyor, teacher, and dean, he has been a major contributor to the American library movement of this century. His studies of municipal library service in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas, his designs for long-range planning in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and his analyses of future growth areas in Tucson, Arizona, and Baltimore County, Maryland, are benchmarks in the literature of this profession. As an educator in three major library schools, the University of Chicago, Rutgers University, and Columbia, he has influenced hundreds of the nation's librarians; as surveyor, critic, and planner he has influenced thousands of librarians and trustees."

Source: Press release about Dr. Matin's ALA Honorary Membership in 1979: https://alair.ala.org/items/fa69646b-c2c1-4184-bb1c-4cbdb5cd7ed1

Additional resources about Dr. Martin

• Obituary in American Libraries: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25648882
• Chapter in A National Plan for Public Library Service
• Series 93/10/3, Post-War Planning Committee Publications, box 1, item: Number 3: https://archon.library.illinois.edu/ala/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=7858
• Articles by Martin in the ALA Bulletin
• "Lowell Martin's CWC Summary," Sept 1963: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25696753
• "A Plan for Public Library Service in America," Sept 1946: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25692377
• "Relation of Public and School Libraries in Service Youth," Feb 1959: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25695493
• "Do the Standards Come up to Standard?" Nov 1958: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25695416
• "The Library Services and Construction Act -what will it mean?" Sept 1964: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25696986
• "Progress on New Public Library Standards," June 1955: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25694551

Special thanks to Cara Setsu Bertram, the Archives Program Officer at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign American Library Association Archives. She provided the information in this memorial.

Submitted by Sandra Nelson and June Garcia

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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.  

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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