Norman D. Stevens (1932 - Dec. 15, 2018) was the director of University Libraries at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

and the author of ''A Guide to Collecting Librariana.'' He is considered one of the world's greatest collectors of librariana. His collection is housed at the

Canadian Centre for Architecture The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA; french: Centre Canadien d'Architecture) is a Architecture museum, museum of architecture and research centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 1920, rue Baile (1920, Baile Street), between r ...

, except for the ALA and Library Badge and Button Collection which is archived with 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 ...

. He also collected hand-carved wooden spoons; his collection will become part of the

Peabody Essex Museum The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, US, is a successor to the East India Marine Society, established in 1799. It combines the collections of the former Peabody Museum of Salem (which acquired the Society's collection) and the ...

. Stevens was one of the creators of The Molesworth Institute, a fictional organization devoted to library humor. Using various pen names, he wrote many satirical articles on aspects of librarianship, including ''Preserving Books with Jell-O™'' under the pen name Nouleigh Rhee Furbished, which was published in the

Journal of Irreproducible Results The ''Journal of Irreproducible Results'' is a magazine of science humor. It was established in Israel in 1955 by virologist Alexander Kohn and physicist Harry J. Lipkin, who wanted a humor magazine about science, for scientists. It contains a ...

. The Institute’s Library Humor Archives are in the University Archives at the Dodd Research Center, along with Stevens' personal papers.

Publications

* ''A Comparative Study of Three Systems of Information Retrieval'' (1961) * ''Library Humor: A Bibliothecal Miscellany to 1970'' (1971) * ''Landmarks of Library Literature, 1876-1976'' (1976) with Dianne J. Ellsworth * ''Communication Throughout Libraries'' (1983) * ''Archives of Library Research From the Molesworth Institute'' (1985) * ''A Guide to Collecting Librariana'' (1986) * ''Postcards in the Library: Invaluable Visual Resources'' (1995) * ''A Gathering of Spoons: The Design Gallery of the World's Most Stunning Wooden Art Spoons'' (2012)

References

External links

Norman D. Stevens Collection of Library Architecture
at the

Norman D. Stevens Papers
at the University of Connecticut {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Norman 1932 births 2018 deaths Librarians from Connecticut University of Connecticut people