Lester Eugene Asheim (January 22, 1914 – July 1, 1997) 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, ...

and scholar 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 ...

. He was on the faculty of the University of Chicago and the University of North Carolina and held positions in the American Library Association (ALA). He was included among the "100 most important leaders we had in the 20th century" by 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 ...

Early life

Lester Asheim was born on January 22, 1914 in Spokane, Washington. His family moved to Seattle, which is where he grew up until he went to the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. While there he earned two undergraduate degrees, one in English in 1936, and another in

Librarianship 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 1937. He also earned his Masters in

American literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...

in 1941 from the same institution. When the United States entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Asheim joined the

Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Ma ...

for three years. After his tour of duty, Asheim attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. He earned his Ph.D in Librarianship from the University's graduate program in 1949.

Academic life

Asheims' first faculty position was at the University of Chicago, which started in 1948 while he was still attaining his Ph.D. He became dean in 1952 and held the position until he left the school in 1961. From 1961 until 1971 he held two different positions with the

(ALA). His first was Director of International relations until 1966, then he moved on to be the Director of the ALA's office for library education. Asheim left the ALA in 1971 to return to the University of Chicago as a faculty member. In 1975 he accepted a position as a faculty member at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

. He remained at the School of Information and Library Science until his retirement in 1984. His papers are archived at the Southern Historical Collection of the Wilson Library on the University of North Carolina at the Chapel Hill campus

Death and afterward

Asheim died on July 1, 1997, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The Library and Science department at the University Of North Carolina has created a scholarship fund in his name.

Contribution to library science

Asheim made some of the most important contributions in Library science through his work on censorship in the library atmosphere. Asheim was an active librarian in a time of great growth in the library science community. His most famous article entitled " Not Censorship, But Selection" has become as ingrained to library science as the five laws of Ranganathan. Asheim's article articulated the difference between censorship and selection in several parts that address each of the problems that were associated with collection continuation. He presents and advocates several rules that librarians should follow in deciding what materials to include and exclude in their libraries' collections. Asheim's article is still cited by library science community decades later when dealing with the problems of cyber materials. The article "Lester Asheim in Cyberspace: A tribute to Sound reasoning" by June Pinnell-Stephens takes Asheim's arguments and applies them to the cyber age.

Published works

* * Asheim, L. E. (1983). Selection and censorship: a reappraisal. Wilson Library Bulletin, 58, 180–184.

Awards

Professor Asheim received many awards during his lifetime. These included: *University of Washington Distinguished Alunmni Award in 1966. *Illinois Library Association Intellectual Freedom Award in 1966. *

Beta Phi Mu Beta Phi Mu (also or βφμ) is the international honor society for library & information science and information technology. Founded by a group of librarians and library educators, the society's express purpose is to recognize and encourage "su ...

Award for Distinguished Service to Education for Librarianship in 1973. *The Joseph W. Lippincott Award in 1976. *ALA Honorary Membership in 1984. *ALISE Award for Professional contribution to Library and Information Science Education in 1992. In 1979, in honor of Asheim's 65th birthday, the festschrift, a collection of articles written in his honor, ''As Much to Learn as to Teach'' was published.Asheim, Lester Eugene, Joel M. Lee, and Beth A. Hamilton. 1979. ''As much to learn as to teach: essays in honor of Lester Asheim.'' Hamden, Conn: Linnet Books.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asheim, Lester 1914 births 1997 deaths University of Chicago faculty University of Washington alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty American librarians American librarianship and human rights University of Chicago Graduate Library School alumni