Special issue features papers by former students and colleagues of the scholar of international comparative librarianship, the history of the book and women’s history.
A special issue of Library Trends highlights the research of the late UCLA Professor Emerita of Information Studies Mary Niles Maack titled, “Feminist and Global Perspectives on an Evolving Profession: Papers Honoring Mary Niles Maack.” Co-edited by Maack’s former UCLA colleague, Michèle Cloonan and UCLA alumna Suzanne Stauffer, the issue features papers by international colleagues and other UCLA alumni, including Renate Chancellor, Su Kim Chung, and Cindy Mediavilla.
Cloonan, professor and dean emerita in the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons University, wrote the article, “Researching the Personal Life: Mary Niles Maack’s Early Writing on Feminist Biography” to honor her former UCLA colleague.
“Mary Niles Maack was a supportive and generous faculty colleague to me during my years at UCLA,” says Cloonan. “Her understanding of–and sensitivity to–library practices in other parts of the world inspired my work in the Middle East. I am still inspired by her; she was a prolific researcher who derived joy from her work.”
Stauffer (’04, PhD, Library and Information Studies), who was Professor Maack’s dissertation advisee, wrote the article, “Leadership for Social Change: Clara Whitehill Hunt and the Evolution of Children’s Librarianship.” She says that Maack’s mentorship, “… helped me to understand the social and cultural aspects of librarianship historically and internationally, and their interactions.
“It led me to study the history and role of cultural heritage institutions generally and to the editing of ‘Libraries, Archives, and Museums: An Introduction to Cultural Heritage Institutions Through the Ages,’” says Stauffer.
Mediavilla, who was also advised by Professor Maack, contributed, “Mary Niles Maack: Scholar, Teacher, Mentor, and Friend,” to the issue.
“[Mary] had a profound impact on my research interests, igniting in me a passion for library history and encouraging me to focus my dissertation on the life and career of California State Librarian Carma (Zimmerman) Leigh (1951-1972),” says Mediavilla. “I have since gone on to use historical research methods to write articles and books on a myriad of topics.”
Chancellor (’01, MLIS; ’08, PhD, Information Studies), who is the associate professor and associate dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility at the iSchool at Syracuse University, was recently honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award by the UCLA Library and Information Studies Alumni Association (LISAA). She contributed “La Visionnaire: An Intellectual Biography of Mary Niles Maack,” to the special issue.
Chung (’15, PhD;’98, MLIS), who is the head of special collections public services at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, contributed, “Something that Belongs to All of Us”: Beda Cornwall and the Las Vegas Public Library Campaign” to the journal issue.
To read the special issue of Library Trends honoring Professor Mary Niles Maack, click here.
Visit this link to view a webinar featuring contributors to “Feminist and Global Perspectives on an Evolving Profession: Papers Honoring Mary Niles Maack.”