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In Memory of Carma Leigh (1904-2009)
Dear Colleagues:
It is with a great deal of sadness that I share news of the passing of former California state librarian Carma Leigh. Carma died Friday in San Diego, where she's lived since retiring from the State Library in 1972. She was 104 years old.
Although I first met Carma in the early 1980s, it wasn't until I was researching her life many years later for my dissertation that I realized how accomplished a career she had led. An alum of UC Berkeley's School of Librarianship (1930), she worked briefly at Berkeley Public Library before becoming director of the Watsonville Public Library (1931-1935). In 1938, she became Orange County library director and then director of San Bernardino County library in 1942. She left California in 1945 to become Washington state librarian only to return in 1951 to become California state librarian. In 1952, ALA asked her to be part of a special cultural envoy to West Germany as part of the post-WWII reconstruction effort.
Her traveling companions included deputy Librarian of Congress Frederick Wagman and sculptor Alexander Calder. A year later, Carma was asked to become part of DACOWITS (Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services), which toured military bases and reported on the living conditions, etc., of military women. Carma was president of the California Library Association in 1955.
On a national level, Carma was one of a group of librarians who lobbied for the passage of the first Library Services Act, which made federal monies available to public libraries. She also lobbied for reauthorization of the now retitled Library Services & Construction Act. In California, she was the impetus behind the creation of public library systems. She and her husband Robert D. Leigh were extremely influential in reshaping the general library philosophy of the mid-20th century. It would not be an overstatement to say she led an extraordinary life.
No service for her is planned. However, should anyone wish to make a contribution in her memory, the family has asked that it be made to the California State Library Foundation.
Cindy Mediavilla
Posted on September 28, 2009 10:42 AM | Permalink