Dr. Russell Shank (September 2, 1925 – June 26, 2012) was a leading American librarian and transformative figure in the profession, whose work bridged public, special, academic, and association leadership. Shank served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
Dr. Shank served as president of the American Library Association Information Science and Automation Division (1968–1969) and the Association of College and Research Libraries (1972–1973), and played a key role in establishing FEDLINK (the Federal Library and Information Network).
He was President of the American Library Association from 1978–1979.
He was lifelong advocate for intellectual freedom and international librarianship.
Dr. Shank received the Freedom to Read Foundation Roll of Honor Award and the Hugh C. Atkinson Memorial Award in 1990. In 1991 he helped persuade the ALA Council to incorporate Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into association policy.
His ashes were inurned with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on January 2, 2014. See: LCDR Russell "Russ" Shank
Full tribute is here: Russell Shank
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In honor of the Sesquicentennial (150th Anniversary of ALA) in 2026, the https://www.ala.org/lhrt. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-auth="NotApplicable" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ala.org%2Flhrt&data=05%7C02%7Ckmccook%40usf.edu%7C89c3becaf0354bfe333708de77846b98%7C741bf7dee2e546df8d6782607df9deaa%7C0%7C0%7C639079607805179513%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=J5dK8VhF1aVvv7nlyWtKSei6mQVILxFOqp8OyE35HVg%3D&reserved=0" data-linkindex="11" data-ogsc="">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, a https://lhrt.news/librarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026/. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-auth="NotApplicable" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flhrt.news%2Flibrarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026%2F&data=05%7C02%7Ckmccook%40usf.edu%7C89c3becaf0354bfe333708de77846b98%7C741bf7dee2e546df8d6782607df9deaa%7C0%7C0%7C639079607805199723%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=qhXq%2BN8979Jo08yxGj2DgSsPZ0lUDVsl1y1AcpopU5Y%3D&reserved=0" data-linkindex="12" data-ogsc="">digital memorial on LHRT News & Notes, and https://alair.ala.org/collections/1ea0f128-01ca-4ed8-a1ea-4f78734f7cad/search. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-auth="NotApplicable" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Falair.ala.org%2Fcollections%2F1ea0f128-01ca-4ed8-a1ea-4f78734f7cad%2Fsearch&data=05%7C02%7Ckmccook%40usf.edu%7C89c3becaf0354bfe333708de77846b98%7C741bf7dee2e546df8d6782607df9deaa%7C0%7C0%7C639079607805220038%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=dXXe3ZWMymSY384OEY34w3nuRWN4H3QigprECLdToWk%3D&reserved=0" data-linkindex="13" data-ogsc="">ALA's institutional repository (ALAIR).
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/. Click or tap if you trust this link." data-auth="NotApplicable" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" href="https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flhrt.news%2Flibrarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026-2%2F&data=05%7C02%7Ckmccook%40usf.edu%7C89c3becaf0354bfe333708de77846b98%7C741bf7dee2e546df8d6782607df9deaa%7C0%7C0%7C639079607805239206%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=p%2FEies6S4twF2L%2FVLvc13ZszzNtpSbDFpbKkwbaS4Qc%3D&reserved=0" data-linkindex="14" data-ogsc="">lhrt.news/...
For questions or comments, please reach out to Brett Spencer (dbs21@psu.edu) or Kathleen McCook (kmccook@usf.edu)
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Kathleen de la Peña McCook
Distinguished University Professor
School of Information
University of South Florida
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