David Horace Clift (June 16, 1907 – October 12, 1973) was a noted 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 ...

and former chief executive of 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 ...

(ALA) from 1951 to 1972. He was named by the ALA as one of the 100 Most Important ibraryLeaders of the 20th Century.

Biography

Clift was born in

Washington, Kentucky Washington is a neighborhood of the city of Maysville located near the Ohio River in Mason County in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is one of the earliest settlements in Kentucky and also one of the earliest American settlements west of the Appal ...

on June 16, 1907 to Charles L. Sr. and Mary E. (Tomlin) Clift. He attended and graduated from the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

in 1930. During his college years, he briefly worked at the Lexington Public Library. After graduation from Kentucky University, he attended

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 ...

School of Library Service, graduating in 1931.

Career

After graduating from Columbia University in 1931, Clift found employment at the New York Public Library in the reference section. Drafted into the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in 1942, Clift eventually found himself working for the Office of Strategic Services where he was named Executive Director of the Interdepartmental Committee for the Acquisition of Foreign Publications, reporting to OSS Executive Director

Frederick Kilgour Frederick Gridley Kilgour (January 6, 1914 – July 31, 2006) was an American librarian and educator known as the founding director of OCLC (Online Computer Library Center), an international computer library network and database. He was its pre ...

, with whom Clift had become acquainted at the Columbia University Library. Clift's experience in the OSS had a profound effect on him as an organizer. " ewas exposed, for example to the ambitious project known as Armed Forces Editions, a program that introduced hundreds of thousands of GIs to paperback books…" Clift was honorably discharged from the Army in 1945. In 1945–1946, Clift traveled to Germany for the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

in order to acquire for American research libraries publications which had appeared in enemy countries during the war. Next, Clift took on the role of associate librarian at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. While at Yale, he also became a fellow of

Trumbull College Trumbull College is one of fourteen undergraduate residential colleges of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. The college is named for Jonathan Trumbull, governor of Connecticut from 1769 to 1784 and advisor and friend to General George Wash ...

and developed a position classification and pay plan that became a model for academic librarians. He was president of the Connecticut Library Association from 1950 to 1951. Finally, Clift took on the role of chief executive of the American Library Association from 1951 to 1972.

Tenure at ALA

In 1951, when Clift took over executive duties for ALA, membership was 19,701 and the general funds budget was $191,129. From May 7 to June 5, 1961 Clift was head of the United States Delegation of Librarians while visiting the Soviet Union under the Cultural Exchange Agreement. He was responsible for moving the association's headquarters from rented space to a permanent location in an abandoned mansion in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He oversaw the promotion and advancement of library growth and literacy growth in America and the world. He also supported the

Intellectual Freedom Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas without restriction. Viewed as an integral component of a democratic society, intellectual freedom protects an individual's right to access, explore, consider, and ...

advancements. When Clift retired in 1972, ALA membership had risen to over 30,000 and the general funds budget was over $2 million. Clift died on October 12, 1973. On his role as an association executive, he is quoted as saying "it was to administer the policies decided by membership and leave the leadership to those elected by the membership."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clift, David Horace American librarians 1907 births 1972 deaths University of Kentucky alumni Columbia University School of Library Service alumni Yale University faculty People from Washington, Kentucky