Leon Carnovsky

After the end of his career at the University of Chicago in 1971, Carnovsky relocated to his retirement home in Oakland, California. He died there on December 6, 1975.

Throughout his career, Carnovsky furthered the work of librarians in the United States and around the world by publishing many works that discussed the issues that were at the heart of librarianship. His extensive bibliography includes journal articles, reports, addresses, books, letters, biographies, and even a poem or two. According to a 1968 bibliography, some of his many works include:

Along with his constant analysis through library surveys, Carnovsky also held various board positions with the American Library Association (ALA), was President of the Association of American Library Schools, and received a Fulbright Grant to conduct a study of international public libraries. During the time that Carnovsky served as the chairman of the ALA Committee on Accreditation, he spent his time travelling to libraries throughout the country to conduct accreditation visits. In his post as editor of the Library Quarterly, which he held from 1943 to 1961, Carnovsky became more well known for his contributions to international librarianship.

As a young man in the library profession, Leon met Marian Satterthwaite, director of the Enoch Pratt Free Library training class in Baltimore, and was eventually married on August 25, 1939. After her death in January 1965, Leon was remarried in 1967 to Ruth French Strout, Dean of Students and Associate Professor in the Graduate Library School at Chicago University.

After graduating from the University of Chicago, Carnovsky joined the faculty of the university in 1932 as an instructor, a position that he kept until his retirement in 1971. During his early career at the university, he, along with many other faculty, began to write to further the academic purpose of the Graduate Library School. Many of these works focused on the theory behind library science, as opposed to earlier works that primarily included “trade-schoolish” direction.

Leon Carnovsky (November 28, 1903 – December 6, 1975) was a librarian and educator who focused much of his time to the survey of libraries in the United States and around the globe. Carnovsky was recognized by American Libraries as being one of the 100 most influential figures in Library and Information Sciences.

Carnovsky was born on November 28, 1903 in St. Louis, Missouri, one of seven children born to Isaac and Jennie Stillman Carnovsky. In early life, Carnovsky found intellectual pursuits to be most interesting, and was encouraged by his parents to continue his intellectual growth, which included frequent trips to the local library.