John F. Szabo (born 1968) is an American librarian, library executive, and the twentieth City Librarian of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, the chief executive of the

Los Angeles Public Library The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) is a public library system in Los Angeles, California, operating separate from the Los Angeles County Public Library system. The system holds more than six million volumes, and with around 19 million resid ...

. He previously served as the Director of the

Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System The Fulton County Library System is a network of public libraries serving the City of Atlanta and Fulton County, both in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is administered by Fulton County. The system is composed of the Atlanta Central Libr ...

, Clearwater (FL) Public Library System, Palm Harbor (FL) Public Library, and the

Robinson Robinson may refer to: People and names * Robinson (name) Fictional characters * Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719 Geography * Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 19 ...

(IL) Public Library District. In 2015, the Los Angeles Public Library won the

National Medal for Museum and Library Service The National Medal for Museum and Library Service is an award given annually by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to American libraries and museums with outstanding service to their communities. The IMLS refers to the medal as " ...

, the nation's highest honor for a library or museum. Awarded by the

Institute for Museum and Library Services The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is an independent agency of the United States federal government established in 1996. It is the main source of federal support for libraries and museums within the United States, having the m ...

(IMLS), the medal was presented by First Lady Michelle Obama at a White House ceremony. John Szabo at the Library Leaders Conference at the 2025 Knight Media Forum

John Szabo at the Library Leaders Conference at the 2025 Knight Media Forum

Biography

Szabo was born in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, and grew up in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

. At age 16, Szabo started working as a library clerk at

Gunter Air Force Base Gunter Annex is a United States Air Force installation located in the North-northeast suburbs of Montgomery, Alabama. The base is named after former Montgomery mayor William Adams Gunter. Until 1992 it was known as Gunter Air Force Base or G ...

. Szabo received his bachelor's degree in telecommunications from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

and his master's degree in information and

library studies Library and information science (LIS)Library and Information Sciences is the name used in the Dewey Decimal Classification for class 20 from the 18th edition (1971) to the 22nd edition (2003). are two interconnected disciplines that deal with info ...

at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. Szabo was appointed director of the public library district serving the city of Robinson and

Crawford County Crawford County is the name of eleven counties in the United States: * Crawford County, Arkansas * Crawford County, Georgia * Crawford County, Illinois * Crawford County, Indiana * Crawford County, Iowa * Crawford County, Kansas * Crawford County, ...

, Illinois. His experience then extended to the

(Director 2005-2012), Clearwater Public Library System in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, and Palm Harbor Public Library, also in Florida. During his Florida tenure, he served as Florida Library Association president. Szabo became City Librarian of Los Angeles in 2012.

Honors

* Betsy Plank Distinguished Achievement Award from the University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences (2020) * Featured in ''New York Times'' best seller and ''Washington Post'' top 10 book of the year '' The Library Book'' by

Susan Orlean Susan Orlean (born October 31, 1955) is an American journalist, television writer, and bestselling author of '' The Orchid Thief'' and '' The Library Book''. She has been a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' since 1992, and has contributed artic ...

(2019) * Named as a "Culture Czar" in "The Gay List: 50 Icons and Iconoclasts Who are Transforming the City." ''Los Angeles Magazine'', Pride Issue (2019) * Award of recognition from the University of Guadalajara Foundation and the

Universidad de Guadalajara The University of Guadalajara () is a public research university located in Guadalajara, Mexico. It was originally established in 1586 and officially founded on 12 February 1791 as the Royal and Pontifical University of Guadalajara. Over the ...

for support of the Mexican community of Los Angeles *Alumni Achievement Award,

University of Michigan School of Information The University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI or iSchool) is the informatics and information science school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It offers baccalaureate, magisterial, and ...

(2010)

Publications

Author of ''Death and Dying: An Annotated Bibliography of the Thanatological Literature''. Author of ''The Bayeux Tapestry: A Critically Annotated Bibliography''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szabo, John Living people 1968 births American librarians People from Los Angeles People from Orlando, Florida People from Montgomery, Alabama University of Alabama alumni University of Michigan School of Information alumni Date of birth missing (living people)