Elaine Harger is an American librarian. She was the first recipient of the Herb Biblo Outstanding Leadership Award for Social Justice and Equality in 2022. Harger is the co-founder (with Mark Rosenzweig and Elliot Shore) of the

Progressive Librarians Guild The Progressive Librarians Guild (PLG) was founded in New York City in January 1990 by librarians concerned with the library profession's "rapid drift into dubious alliances with business and the information industry, and into complacent acceptance ...

organized in 1989, and was on the editorial committee of their publication, ''Progressive Librarian''. She was managing editor for all 47 issues. She wrote many editorial and articles for the journal including "Why PLG? Why paper? Why bridge generations?" and "Conscience v. Political Expediency at ALA." In the early 1990s she co-wrote a column ''Talkin' Union'' with Mark Rosenzweig for

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

. She has been a member 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 a ...

and the Social Responsibilities Round Table of ALA for 35 years. She served on ALA Council as an elected at-large member and served as co-chair of the ALA/AFL-CIO Joint Committee on Library Services to Labor Groups. She is the author of the book ''Which Side Are You On? Seven Social Responsibility Debates in American Librarianship, 1990-2015''. Harger's first professional librarian job was at the Harry Van Arsdale, Jr. School of Labor Studies, a branch of

Empire State College Empire State College (SUNY Empire or ESC) is a public university headquartered in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Empire State College is a multi-site institution offering associate, ...

in New York City where she was also the union representative to the United University Professions- American Federation of Teachers from 1989 to 1995. While there she co-authored the ''Bibliography of the Works of

Philip Sheldon Foner Philip Sheldon Foner (December 14, 1910 – December 13, 1994) was an American labor historian and teacher. Foner was a prolific author and editor of more than 100 books. He is considered a pioneer in his extensive works on the role of radical ...

''. She also worked as head librarian at the New Jersey Historical Society and then shifted into public education as a school librarian. She was responsible for the opening of a library at PS/IS 176, the W. Haywood Burns School in New York City. After a move to the West Coast, she became a librarian at Mount Si High School in

Snoqualmie, Washington Snoqualmie ( ) is a city next to Snoqualmie Falls in King County, Washington, United States. It is east of Seattle. Snoqualmie city is home to the Northwest Railway Museum. The population was 10,670 at the 2010 census and an estimated 13,62 ...

, Meadowdale Elementary in

Lynnwood, Washington Lynnwood is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located north of Seattle and south of Everett, near the junction of Interstate 5 and Interstate 405. It is the fou ...

, and Washington Middle School in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. She is now retired and living in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

. Harger was born to Richard Harger and Lois Marie Ensign, one of five children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harger, Elaine Living people American librarians 1956 births