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best known for the lecture series bearing his name, the Arthur Curley
Memorial Lecture, which is devoted to the same theme and takes place each mid-winter meeting. He was a founding member of ALA’s Social Responsibility Round Table which exists to make the ALA more democratic and to equip librarians to help address social inequality and other human rights issues. He was also chair of the Intellectual Freedom Committee from 1991 to 1994. During his presidency he founded Library Advocacy Now, which has facilitated important training for library advocates. Rather than merely promoting best practices "for Curley, LAN represented the first step of a grassroots effort of the ALA's 'awaking to activism'". The rhetorical force of his visions for the role libraries can have in society continues to be important for many librarians and library advocates.
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281:"humanistic institutions". He saw libraries as embodying the best of America's hopes and as the physical "repository of their values and aspirations" for each and every community. As such, he believed that a strong commitment to collection building based on community needs was essential at every library and he was fiercely critical of "libraries lowered their collection building sights in the name of resource-sharing or 'access over ownership'".
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more about the values of that community than I could derive from countless hours spent poring over census tracts and other sources of statistical information about it. Why? Because a library is a representative of intangible values and those intangible values more than ever are important to us as a society at this time.
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School of
Communication, Information, and Library Studies he said, "We need to be people for whom this is one more technological development, like the telephone or the electric typewriter, which we view with optimism because it will help us to do our jobs". However, he was particularly concerned with
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In addition to being widely regarded as one of the most eloquent library advocates, Curley's energy and achievement for committee work within library organizations were enormous. When he became president of ALA in 1994 he ran on the theme "Libraries: An
American Value" platform. Presently, he may be
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I have always felt that I could go into any town, community, hamlet anywhere in this country, and if you blindfolded me so I didn’t know what community I was in, took me into the public library and suddenly took the blindfold off and let me look around for about ten minutes I think I could tell you
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how this new technology and new forms of media could further divide populations based on class and other social factors depending on the relative levels of access. It was his belief that technological improvements should "arise from public commitment rather than fortuitous private philanthropy".
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Curley was known to be politically astute, and was tremendously concerned with how the function of the library as an institution was viewed by the public. Although he understood the important role of providing information, he was emphatic that libraries needed to be seen first and foremost as
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Curley's first position in a library was at the
Connolly branch of the Boston Public Library system in a so-called "pre-professional position". By the time he had completed his library degree, he had already been appointed as director of the
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Throughout his career he remained primarily in the
Atlantic North East and Mid-West regions, typically taking positions as deputy director or director. Notably he "served as deputy director of the
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Despite his love of the cultural aspects a library can provide, Curley was in no way technophobic. He encouraged librarians to see their work and especially their role as a key part of the
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on
January 22, 1938, to Irish parents. His mother is credited with having high expectations for him, and for correctly presuming that he would attend the prestigious
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Kniffel, L., McCormick, E. & Sullivan, P. Dec. 1999. "100 of the most important leaders we had in the 20th century".
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His belief in the power of libraries as valuable community institutions was enormous. During a speech he remarked,
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from 1997 to 1980". His most notable career accomplishments include his election as
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who was listed as one of the 100 most important library leaders of the 20th century by journal
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Varlejs, J. . 1995. Curley, A. "Costs and values: the politics of economics" in
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Research
Libraries in 1980-1985 and deputy director of public services at
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Arthur Curley
Memorial Lecture, American Library Association,
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minutes of the
Palatine Public Library Board, June 10, 1964
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secondary school. Later, he studied political science at
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Public Library in Illinois, where he served until 1969.
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In 1964, Curley was appointed as the director of the
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300:. Imploring his peers in 1994 at a symposium at
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599:President of the American Library Association
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330:Kniffel, Sullivan & McCormick 1999, p. 41
50:President of the American Library Association
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529:. Chicago: Oct 1999. Vol. 30, Iss. 9; pg. 6
441:"ALA | Arthur Curley Memorial Lecture"
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1434:People from Norfolk County, Massachusetts
577:Librarian Leaders in Intellectual Freedom
514:The Economics of Information in the 1990s
476:Librarian Leaders in Intellectual Freedom
555:Dictionary of American Library Biography
205:, graduating in 1959 before earning his
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237:Curley (left) speaking circa 1984–1987
550:(Online), Detroit, MI: Gale Research.
519:Sellen, B. C. and Curley, A. . 1992.
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523:. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers.
516:. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co.
584:Non-profit organization positions
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225:Curley (right) with Boston Mayor
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1429:New York Public Library people
521:The Collection Building Reader
16:American librarian (1938–1998)
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652:American Library Association
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1409:Library science scholars
189:Early life and education
19:Not to be confused with
258:New York Public Library
1419:Harvard College alumni
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272:from 1985 until 1996.
262:Detroit Public Library
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546:Gale Research. 2002.
536:(Boston, MA) April 1.
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270:Boston Public Library
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553:Ring, Daniel. 2003.
548:Contemporary Authors
481:(retrieved May 2011)
474:'Arthur Curley', in
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244:Avon Public library
115:, Massachusetts, US
562:American Libraries
541:American Libraries
527:American Libraries
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203:Harvard University
182:American Libraries
143:Harvard University
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125:(1998-03-31)
80:Succeeded by
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21:Arthur Curle
1394:1998 deaths
1389:1938 births
1343:W. K. Brown
1338:Garcia-Febo
953:C. H. Brown
828:W. L. Brown
713:H. M. Utley
539:Anonymous.
68:Preceded by
1383:Categories
1228:Somerville
928:M. G. Wyer
913:Countryman
858:G.B. Utley
833:Montgomery
798:J. I. Wyer
768:Richardson
693:Linderfelt
648:Presidents
603:1994–1995
507:References
451:2010-10-02
420:Curley, 68
411:Curley, 65
402:Curley, 65
393:Curley, 67
209:degree at
157:Occupation
135:Alma mater
106:1938-01-22
1363:Drabinski
1348:Jefferson
1313:Stripling
1198:Dougherty
1088:McDonough
1083:Mohrhardt
1038:Greenaway
1013:Ludington
988:McDiarmid
908:Lydenberg
803:Elmendorf
465:ALA, 1999
375:ALA, 1998
213:in 1962.
177:librarian
161:Librarian
62:1994–1995
58:In office
1308:Sullivan
1258:Freedman
1213:Franklin
1183:Chisholm
1148:Sullivan
1098:Bradshaw
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978:Rothrock
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490:Ring, 60
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339:Ring, 60
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302:Rutgers
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309:Legacy
217:Career
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113:Boston
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868:Meyer
848:Tyler
788:Gould
723:Brett
703:Dewey
688:Green
683:Dewey
668:Poole
318:Notes
276:Views
1368:Hohl
1353:Wong
1333:Neal
1243:Long
1233:Ford
1133:Moon
1103:Doms
1028:Shaw
1003:Fyan
993:Lord
983:Rice
968:Vitz
943:Munn
853:Root
773:Hill
748:Carr
738:Lane
718:Dana
384:Long
348:Gale
120:Died
100:Born
1283:Roy
1093:Dix
1385::
478:,
185:.
640:e
633:t
626:v
454:.
292:.
108:)
104:(
23:.
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