Edward Dudley (1919–2010) was an English librarian who also lectured in librarianship and edited the professional journals ''New Library World'' and ''The Library Association Record''. Dudley was born in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

, London, the son of an

engine driver A train driver is a person who operates a train, railcar, or other rail transport vehicle. The driver is in charge of and is responsible for the mechanical operation of the train, train speed, and all of the train handling (also known as bra ...

. He worked as a librarian at Fulham Library from 1936 to 1939.

Army career

With the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he joined the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

. Initially he was with the infantry, transferring to the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and do ...

in 1941. He returned to the Infantry in 1944, first the Devons and then as a seconded Platoon commander with the Queen's and served in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He was then appointed as a librarian while still in the Army, for which he received extra pay.

Librarianship scholar

After the war, Dudley started work at the Belsize Park Library in North London. He went on to become a lecturer at the

Polytechnic of North London The University of North London (UNL) was a university in London, England, formed from the Polytechnic of North London (PNL) in 1992 when that institution was granted university status. PNL, in turn, had been formed by the amalgamation of the No ...

. In 1983 he became editor of the ''New Library World'' and subsequently was involved in the founding of the ''Journal of Librarianship and Information Science''. In 2010 the

Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP, pronounced ) is a professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge management, knowledge managers in the United Kingdom. It was established in 20 ...

(CILIP) awarded him the first Cilip medal for his lifetime of professional achievement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, Edward 1919 births 2010 deaths English librarians People from Wandsworth British Army personnel of World War II Royal Army Service Corps soldiers