Carma Leigh

Carma Leigh (November 15, 1904—September 25, 2009), born Carma Russell, was an American librarian. She was the State Librarian of California from 1951 to 1972.

Carma Leigh
Leigh, from a 1960 publication
Born
Carma Alice Russell

(1904-11-15)November 15, 1904
McLoud, Oklahoma Territory
DiedSeptember 25, 2009(2009-09-25) (aged 104)
La Mesa, California
Other namesCarma Russell Zimmerman, Carma Russell Leigh, Carma Zimmerman Leigh
CitizenshipUnited States
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley
HonoursCalifornia Library Hall of Fame (inducted 2012)

Early life and education

Carma Alice Russell was born near McLoud in Oklahoma Territory,[1] the daughter of William Luther Russell and Ida Jenkins Russell, white homesteaders. She earned a bachelor's degree in history from the Oklahoma College for Women in 1925. She earned a master's degree in history and graduated from the School of Librarianship at the University of California, Berkeley in 1930.[2]

Career

Leigh began her career as a junior assistant at the Berkeley Public Library. From 1932 to 1938, she was the city library director in Watsonville, California, where she knew John Steinbeck's sister Esther, and heard her apologize over some scenes in his novel, The Grapes of Wrath.[3] She served as county library director in Orange County from 1938 to 1942,[4] and in San Bernardino County from 1942 to 1945.[5] In 1945, she left California to become Washington State Librarian.[6] In 1951, governor Earl Warren appointed Leigh to the position of State Librarian of California, a position she held through three more governors' terms, until her retirement in 1972.[7] During her term as State Librarian, the California Library Commission was established, and the Public Library Development Act passed into law in 1963, establishing state funding for a network of regional library systems.[2] "Without strongly organized county, regional, or inter-county libraries", asked Leigh, "can there be a system of coöperative library services which will achieve many of the same advantages?"[8] In 1970 she lobbied to preserve book and library postal rates, a particular concern for librarians in larger Western states.[9]

She was president of the California Library Association and the Pacific Northwest Library Association, and a member of the executive board of the American Library Association.[10] Beyond the state level, Leigh lobbied and testified for the federal Library Services Act, passed by Congress in 1956, and its successor the Library Services and Construction Act, passed in 1964.[11] In the early 1950s, she went to West Germany as part of the American Library Association's efforts to assist post-war rebuilding, and she was a member of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services.[12][13]

Leigh was editor of the Washington State Library News Bulletin from 1945 to 1951, and had her own newsletter, From the California State Librarian, from 1951 to 1972.[7] In 1966 she presented a paper, "The Role of the American Library Association in Federal Legislation for Libraries", at the Allerton Park Institute, conducted by the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library Science.[14]

Honors and awards

On the occasion of her retirement, a resolution commending her work was read in the state senate.[7] In 1973, she was named to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Alumni Hall of Fame.[15] In 1995, the California Library Association honored her as its longest-active member. She was honored in 1996 by the American Library Association as a "Legislative and Grass Roots Champion".[12] She also held an honorary doctorate from the University of the Pacific.[7]

Personal life and legacy

Carma Russell was married twice. She divorced her first husband, Ernest Zimmerman, in 1938.[16] Her second husband was political scientist and Bennington College president Robert Devore Leigh. They married in 1960;[17] he died in 1961.[18] She had a daughter, Rita Zimmerman Collier. Carma Leigh died in 2009, aged 104 years, in LaMesa, California.[19][20] Her papers are archived in the California State Library.[21]

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References
  1. Mediavilla, Cindy (Winter 2004). "Imbued with a Spirit of Cooperation: California State Librarian Carma Leigh" (PDF). California State Library Foundation Bulletin. 79: 2–5.
  2. "California Library Hall of Fame: Carma Leigh - California Library Association". www.cla-net.org. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  3. Wartzman, Rick (2008). Obscene in the extreme : the burning and banning of John Steinbeck's The grapes of wrath (1st ed.). New York: PublicAffairs. p. 58. ISBN 9780786726073. OCLC 299175895.
  4. "Library Group to Confer in Laguna". Santa Ana Register. January 31, 1941. p. 20. Retrieved March 30, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "New County Librarian Chosen by Supervisors". The San Bernardino County Sun. June 10, 1942. p. 5. Retrieved March 30, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "State Librarian Visits". Feather River Bulletin. November 15, 1951. p. 10. Retrieved March 30, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Senate Resolution 42, Journal of the Senate, Legislature of the State of California (March 22, 1972): 953.
  8. Mediavilla, Cindy (2013-01-30). "Carma Zimmerman Leigh and the Diffusion of Cooperation through California Libraries, 1951–1972". Information & Culture: A Journal of History. 48 (1): 157–177. doi:10.1353/lac.2013.0000. ISSN 2166-3033.
  9. "Librarians Get Help in Bill". Independent. July 3, 1970. p. 9. Retrieved March 30, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Dr. Robert D. Leigh is Wed in California Ceremony". Bennington Banner. October 25, 1960. p. 2. Retrieved March 30, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. Willett, Holly G. (1995). Public library youth services : a public policy approach. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex Pub. p. 172. ISBN 1567501222. OCLC 30358906.
  12. Mediavilla, Cindy (2010). "Remembering Carma Leigh: California State Librarian, 1951–1972" (PDF). California State Library Foundation Bulletin. 96: 18–19.
  13. "Librarian Gets Post". The Fresno Bee. April 9, 1953. p. 8. Retrieved March 30, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Leigh, Carma Russell (1966). "The Role Of The American Library Association In Federal Legislation For Libraries". ISSN 0536-4604. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. "Carma Russell Leigh 1973". USAO Alumni Hall of Fame Gallery. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  16. "Big Divorce Calendar On". Santa Cruz Sentinel. April 30, 1938. p. 8. Retrieved March 30, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Robert Leigh Weds Mrs. Zimmerman". The New York Times. October 23, 1960. p. 92 – via ProQuest.
  18. "Dr. Robert Leigh of Columbia, 70". The New York Times. February 1, 1961. p. 35 – via ProQuest.
  19. "USAO's Oldest Living Graduate Passes Away at 104". usao.edu. October 9, 2009. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
  20. "Obituary: Carma Russell Leigh". The San Diego Union Tribune. September 30, 2009. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  21. "Carma Leigh papers, 1920-1994". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
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