Allie Beth Martin (née Dent; June 28, 1914 – April 11, 1976) was an American

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

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, and

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. In 1990, she was named one of the 100 most influential people in the field of

library science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...

by '' American Libraries''.Wedgeworth, R. (Ed.) (1980). ALA World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services. Chicago: American Library Association. p 346 She was the first director of the

Tulsa City-County Library The Tulsa City-County Library (TCCL) is the major public library system in Tulsa County, Oklahoma. Overview The library system serves those who live, work, go to school in, own land in, or pay property taxes on land in Tulsa County. There are 24 b ...

, from 1963 until her death, and was known for her ground-breaking library improvement programs.

Early life

Martin was born in Annieville,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, on June 28, 1914, to Carleton Gayle Dent and Ethel (McCaleb) Dent. After graduating from high school in 1932, she went on to earn several degrees. She earned a B.A. in foreign languages & English from Arkansas College in 1935 and a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Library Science Library science (often termed library studies, bibliothecography, and library economy) is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and ...

in 1939 from

Peabody College Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development (also known as Vanderbilt Peabody College, Peabody College, or simply Peabody) is the education school of Vanderbilt University, a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. ...

. She later earned an M.S. in Library Science in 1949 from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

.The ALA Yearbook, 1976 (Centennial Edition ed. Vol. 1976). (1976). Chicago: American Library Association. p. vi She married Ralph F. Martin, a journalist, on October 6, 1937.

Career

Martin began working in a junior college in

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

. She joined the Arkansas Library Commission as an assistant to the executive secretary. She started working at the Tulsa Library in 1949 and became the director of the Tulsa City-County Library in 1963. Later she elected president of committee in 1945 and president of the ALA in 1975. She died in Tulsa on April 11, 1976.

Programs

Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Council on Library Resources in 1972, Allie Beth Martin prepared a report on whether the library meets the needs of its patrons; the report was published by the Public Library Association (PLA) and the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

(ALA).The ALA Yearbook, 1976 (Centennial Edition ed. Vol. 1976). (1976). Chicago: American Library Association. p. 284 The plan listed steps that libraries should take in order to transition into the 21st Century and keep up with library's changing roles in society. After doing the preliminary study, Martin wrote the book ''A Strategy for Public Library Change'', which sparked a movement of library improvement programs all across the country.

Legacy and honors

* She was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humanities Degree from University of Tulsa. * The Tulsa Regional Library was named after her as well a lecture series and a national library award. * The Allie Beth Martin Award has been presented annually since 1979 by the Public Library Association.

References

External links

Oklahoma State Library Legends
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Allie Beth Library science scholars People from Lawrence County, Arkansas 1914 births 1976 deaths Presidents of the American Library Association Lyon College alumni Columbia University School of Library Service alumni Peabody College alumni American librarians American women librarians Writers from Tulsa, Oklahoma 20th-century American women 20th-century American people