Russell Shank (September 2, 1925 – June 26, 2012) was an American

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

. Shank studied electrical engineering at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

and earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in electrical engineering in 1946. He went on to receive a bachelor's in librarianship in 1949, also from the University of Washington. Shank went on to receive a master's in business administration from the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

and a doctorate in library science from the

Columbia University School of Library Service The Columbia University School of Library Service was a school dedicated to education for librarianship that was part of Columbia University in New York City. It was founded by Melvil Dewey and began operation in 1887 as the Columbia College Schoo ...

. He served as an assistant university librarian at the

University of California Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley ...

from 1959 to 1964 and was a member of the faculty of the Columbia University library school. Shank was the first director of libraries at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

from 1968 to 1977. In 1977, he was named chief librarian at the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) until he retired from that position in 1989. He was succeeded by Gloria Werner. Shank was also a professor emeritus in UCLA's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Shank served as President of 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 ...

from 1978 to 1979. Shank was instrumental in forming FEDLINK (the Federal Library and Information Network) and advocated to make Article 19 of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...

part of the American Library Association's policy.

Awards and honors

* Hugh Craig Atkinson Memorial Award (1990) * Freedom to Read Foundation Roll of Honor Award (1990)

References

1926 births 2012 deaths American librarians Presidents of the American Library Association Columbia University School of Library Service alumni Columbia University faculty UCLA librarians Smithsonian Institution people {{Library-bio-stub

Awards and honors

See also

References