Monteria Hightower (born 1929) is an American librarian. She was formerly the Administrator of the State Library and Archives for Nevada, the first Black state librarian in Nevada, and the fifth Black state librarian in the United States. She was the State Librarian of Missouri from 1986 through 1994 where she was the first Black state librarian. Hightower worked as State Librarian of Missouri beginning in 1986. During that time oversight of the library shifted from the department of education to the Secretary of State's office. Hightower was able to implement a few major programs during her time there including getting

Missouri State Library The Missouri State Library (MSL) is the official State Library of Missouri located in Jefferson City, Missouri. MSL provides library and reference services directly to the executive and legislative branches of the state's government. They support ...

designated as a Center for the Book by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

and organizing the Missouri Governor's Conference on Library and Information Services. Hightower was accused in a memo of using "the 'race' issue" to get what she wanted to which she responded "I don't need race. I'm trained for my job." Hightower felt she was being asked to give patronage jobs and special privileges to family and friends of state employees, including opening the state library on Mother's Day so the governor's son could complete his homework, and resigned her job in protest in September 1994. She moved to Nevada and worked in the Clark County library system until she assumed her role at the State Library of Nevada in April 1999. She worked there until her retirement in October, 2000. She was named Librarian of the Year by the

Nevada Library Association The Nevada Library Association (NLA) is a professional organization for Nevada's librarians and library workers. It is headquartered in Henderson, Nevada. It was founded on June 4, 1946, in Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest se ...

in 1998. She has also worked as the director of the Central Services division of

Seattle Public Library The Seattle Public Library (SPL) is the public library system serving the city of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. Efforts to start a Seattle library had commenced as early as 1868, with the system eventually being established by the ci ...

from 1982 through 1986 as their first Black administrator, and supervisor of branches at DC Public Library. She has worked at

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 ...

and public libraries in Maryland and Connecticut. She is the author of the book ''Commonalities and Diversities in Public Library Programming in a Pluralistic Society, Serving Our Ethnic Publics'', published in 1976. Hightower served as a Councillor for 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. History 19th century ...

as a member of the Black Caucus where she took ALA to task for not making more hires of people of color.

Early life and education

Hightower was born in

Nacogdoches, Texas Nacogdoches ( ) is a city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Stephen F. Austin State University is located in Nacogdoches and special ...

in 1929 to Harrison and Laura Hightower. She graduated from

Butler College Lee D. Butler College is one of the seven residential colleges of Princeton University, founded in 1983. It houses about 500 freshmen and sophomores, 100 juniors and seniors, 10 Resident Graduate Students, a faculty member in residence, as wel ...

in Texas and received her MLS from the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

Library School in 1970.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hightower, Monteria Librarians from Nevada African-American librarians Living people 1929 births