Lester Asheim

Lester Asheim
Born January 22, 1914
Spokane, Washington
Died July 1, 1997(1997-07-01) (aged 83)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Occupation Librarian, educator

Lester Eugene Asheim (January 22, 1914 – July 1, 1997) was a librarian and scholar of library science. He was on the faculty of the University of Chicago and the University of North Carolina and held positions in the American Library Association (ALA). He was included among the "100 most important leaders we had in the 20th century" by the American Library Association.[1]

Early life

Lester Asheim was born on January 22, 1914 in Spokane, Washington. His family moved to Seattle, which is where he grew up until he went to the University of Washington. While there he earned two undergraduate degrees, one in English in 1936, and another in Librarianship in 1937. He also earned his Masters in American literature in 1941 from the same institution.[2]

When the United States entered World War II, Asheim joined the Army Signal Corps for three years. After his tour of duty, Asheim attended the University of Chicago. He earned his Ph.D in Librarianship from the University's graduate program in 1949.[2]

Academic life

Asheims' first faculty position was at the University of Chicago, which started in 1948 while he was still attaining his Ph.D. He became dean in 1952 and held the position until he left the school in 1961. From 1961 until 1971 he held two different positions with the American Library Association (ALA). His first was Director of International relations until 1966, then he moved on to be the Director of the ALA's office for library education. Asheim left the ALA in 1971 to return to the University of Chicago as a faculty member. In 1975 he accepted a position as a faculty member at the University of North Carolina. He remained at the School of Information and Library Science until his retirement in 1984.[2] His papers are archived at the Southern Historical Collection of the Wilson Library on the University of North Carolina at the Chapel Hill campus [3]

Death and afterward

Asheim died on July 1, 1997, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Library and Science department at the University Of North Carolina has created a scholarship fund in his name.[2]

Contribution to library science

Asheim made some of the most important contributions in Library science through his work on censorship in the library atmosphere. Asheim was an active librarian in a time of great growth in the library science community. His most famous article entitled "Not Censorship, But Selection"[4] has become as ingrained to library science as the five laws of Ranganathan.

Asheim's article articulated the difference between censorship and selection in several parts that address each of the problems that were associated with collection continuation. He presents and advocates several rules that librarians should follow in deciding what materials to include and exclude in their libraries' collections.

Asheim's article is still cited by library science community decades later when dealing with the problems of cyber materials. The article "Lester Asheim in Cyberspace: A tribute to Sound reasoning" by June Pinnell-Stephens takes Asheim's arguments and applies them to the cyber age.[5]

Published works

Awards

Professor Asheim received many awards during his lifetime. These included:

In 1979, in honor of Asheim's 65th birthday, the festschrift, a collection of articles written in his honor, As Much to Learn as to Teach was published.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Kniffel, L.; Sullivan, P.; McCormick, E. (1999). "100 of the most important leaders we had in the 20th century". American Libraries (American Library Association) 30 (11): 38.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Professor Emeritus of Library Science Lester E. Asheim dies at age 83". University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 2 July 1997. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  3. ↑ Collection Number: 04775. Collection Title: Lester Eugene Asheim Papers, 1940s-1990s. http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/a/Asheim,Lester_Eugene.html
  4. ↑ Asheim, L. (1953). "Not censorship, but selection". Willson Library Bulletin. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
  5. ↑ Pinnell-Stephens, J. (October 2002). "Lester Asheim in Cyberspace: A Tribute To Sound Reasoning". American Libraries 33 (9): 70–72.
  6. ↑ Asheim, Lester Eugene, Joel M. Lee, and Beth A. Hamilton. 1979. As much to learn as to teach: essays in honor of Lester Asheim. Hamden, Conn: Linnet Books.

External links

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