Lucile Nix

Lucile Nix (March 4, 1903 – December 1, 1968)[1] was an American librarian.[2] She was Georgia's head of public library services for 23 years.

Lucile Nix
Born(1903-03-04)March 4, 1903
Commerce, Georgia, United States
DiedDecember 1, 1968(1968-12-01) (aged 65)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materFurman University (BA, 1925)
Emory University (BA, 1930, library science)
OccupationLibrarian

Career

Nix was born on March 4, 1903 in Commerce, Georgia to John Morgan and Ella Ludora Bennett Nix. Her father was a grocer and her mother had a passion for reading.[3] She attended Furman University followed by Emory University, where in 1930[4] she earned a degree in library science.[5] While in school Nix attended summer programs at Columbia University and the University of Chicago.[1]

During the first years of her career, Nix worked at libraries in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Knoxville, Tennessee, as well as at Emory. Her first job as a librarian was at Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem.[1] Later, while in Tennessee and serving as president of the Tennessee Library Association, Nix was influential in convincing the Tennessee legislature to pass its first bill intended to provide state aid for regional libraries.

In 1945 she returned to Georgia. At the time, 33% of Georgia's population had no library access—after her decades-long service with Georgia's libraries, by 1968 the percentage had fallen to just 1.5%.[1]

Nix was elected president of the Southeastern Regional Library Association in 1958, and continued her involvement with the organization throughout the 1960s.[6] She was also a trustee of the Georgia Library Trustees and Friends Association from 1949–1951.[7] In 1963, Georgia governor Carl Sanders named her a member of the Georgia Commission on Aging. Nix served as president of the Atlanta Library Club, and in 1968 she was awarded the Joseph W. Lippincott Award.[1]

Legacy

After her death, the Nix–Jones Award for Distinction in Library Service was co-named in her honor.[2] She never married and had no children.[8]

On March 9, 2017, Nix was inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame at a ceremony at Wesleyan College in Macon. She was nominated by the Northeast Georgia Historical and Genealogical Society, the Georgia Library Association, and the Hall County Library System.[8] Even during her lifetime Nix was known as "Miss Public Library."[1]

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References
  1. "Joseph W. Lippincott Award Application - Lucile Nix" (PDF). 1968. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  2. Fennell, Janice C. "The Georgia Librarian: A Twenty-Five Year Perspective" (PDF). The Georgia Librarian (Spring 1989). pp. 21–22.
  3. Miller, Marilyn L. (2003). "Nix, Lucile (1903-1968)". Pioneers and Leaders in Library Services to Youth: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited. pp. 179–181. ISBN 9781591580287. OCLC 491673635. Retrieved 23 July 2019 – via Google Books.
  4. Carmichael Jr., James V. (April 1992). "Women in Southern Library Education, 1905-1945". The Library Quarterly. 62 (2): 169–216. JSTOR 4308688.
  5. "Miss Lucile Nix Heads Dixie Librarians". The Atlanta Constitution. 27 Oct 1958. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  6. "The Federal Period-The 1960s". Southeastern Library Association. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  7. "Georgia Library Association Handbook: Appendix 2: Past Officers" (PDF). Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  8. Van Parys, Hailey (March 11, 2017). "Hall library pioneer Lucile Nix inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame". The Gainesville Times. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
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