Congratulations to the 2025 California Library Hall of Fame Honorees!

2025 Hall of Fame Honorees

• Shirley A. Coaston
  Shirley A. Coaston was awarded in 2020 the Trailblazer Award by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, the highest award given to a member in recognition of outstanding and unique pioneering contributions. She was an early member of the Northern California Chapter of the California Librarians Black Caucus (CLBC), and assisted to facilitate the transition to a single, statewide organization. Shirley has chaired the California Librarians Black Caucus Scholarship Committee for several years, and serves as mentor to library personnel ranging from students to early career and seasoned library staff. Despite being retired, Coaston, continues to be active in the library community, the college district and nationally, giving of her time and resources to advocate for libraries at the local, state and national level.
  

• Susan Curzon
  Susan Curzon’s distinguished career profoundly shaped library services in California, both in academic and public libraries, and her leadership left a lasting impact at the local, state, and national levels. As Dean of the University Library at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) from 1992 to 2010, she transformed the library’s collections and embraced digital innovation.  Following the devastating 1994 Northridge earthquake, she led the ambitious reconstruction of CSUN’s damaged 235,000-square-foot library.  Her impact extended to leading the development of a system-wide information literacy program across 23 campuses. She also championed the CSU Virtual Library initiative, which broadened digital access for students statewide. Previously, Sue directed the City of Glendale Library system and held key leadership roles within the Los Angeles County Public Library, managing adult services and multiple branches serving diverse communities.  Her influence extended far beyond California. She was named Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year in 1993, a national recognition of her leadership and innovation. She authored multiple books, including Managing the Interview and Managing Change, as well as co-editing Proven Strategies for Building an Information Literacy Program, which became essential reading for librarians nationwide. She was a sought-after speaker, delivering keynote addresses and presentations on topics such as disaster recovery, library management, and the future of libraries. She earned a Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Southern California, writing her dissertation on executive dissent. She also holds a Master’s degree in Librarianship from the University of Washington and a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California, Riverside. 
  

• Holly Hinman
  Holly Hinman was a library trailblazer, first as the director of the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System, and then as director of Burbank Public Library, and Library Services Manager in Beverly Hills. From 1994 until 2015, when she retired, she was director of the Infopeople Project, the premier collaborative for library innovation and training in California. Following an extensive evaluation and review of previous library leadership efforts in California and elsewhere, she initiated the Eureka! Leadership Program in 2006, thus producing many of today’s library directors. Holly was president of the California Library Association in 1986 and CLA Member of the Year in 2004. She died in 2024.
  

• Dora T. Ho
  Dora T Ho worked for over 30 years at the Los Angeles Public Library including one of the first staff to serve in the then newly minted Young Adult Services Department in the late 1990s. For over 22 years, Dora was an ALA Councilor, including 3 years as an ALA Executive Board member. For over a decade, she has served as the Treasurer for the Joint Council of Librarians of Color. During her long career, she mentored many new librarians, both formally and informally, through the UCLA Mentorship program and the APALA Mentorship program, as well as through her involvement and connections with various other professional development organizations.
  

• Dr. Charles Monell, M.D. 
  Dr. Charles Monell, M.D. has demonstrated an exceptional record of leadership and dedication to California’s library community over more than four decades. He served with distinction as a member of the California Library Services Board from 1980 to 1994 — appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, Willie Brown — where he helped shape policy and funding priorities that strengthened library services statewide. He was also a founding board member of the California State Library Foundation. By championing state funding opportunities and building strong partnerships with civic leaders, he helped demonstrate the impact that committed local advocates can have on securing sustainable support for public libraries.
  

• W. Elmo Reavis (1877-1959) 
  W. Elmo Reavis established the Pacific Library Binding Company in Los Angeles in 1912 to focus solely on bookbinding for libraries. Mr. Reavis taught bookbinding classes at the Los Angeles Public Library Training School (1913-1932), and the Riverside Library Service School (1914-1922). It was important to Reavis that librarians understood bookbinding so they could make informed choices about what sort of binding and lettering, they needed in order to maximize their budgets. He patented several pieces of bookbinding machinery that were used universally, most notably a book sewing machine manufactured by the Oversewing Machine Company, a company that he co-founded to manufacture bookbinding machinery in 1918.
  

• C. James Schmidt 
  

  C. James “Jim” Schmidt was former university librarian and professor emeritus at San Jose State University (SJSU) School of Information. A career librarian, he previously served as library director at State University of New York at Albany and Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. He was also vice president and chief operating officer of the Research Libraries Group (1981-1989), a member and chair of ALA's Intellectual Freedom Committee (1985-1989), president of the Freedom to Read Foundation (1990-1992), a recipient of the Robert B Downs Intellectual Freedom Award (1990) and a recipient of the Beta Phi Mu Award (2009). Jim Schmidt was also a subject matter expert on joint-use libraries, following his involvement with the creation of the King Library in San Jose, which is jointly operated by SJSU and San Jose Public Library. Jim Schmidt’s extensive career in California included serving on the California State University Commission on Learning Resources and Instructional Technology, California State University Council of Library Directors, the Networking Task Force for the State Library of California and the Network Advisory Committee on the Library of Congress. His master's degree was from Columbia University and he had a Ph.D. from Florida State University.

To read more about all of the inductees in the California Library Hall of Fame, all biographies (with photos) are here.