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California Library Hall of Fame

Joyce Madkins Sumbi

Library colleagues statewide viewed Joyce Madkins Sumbi as a mentor and inspiration to librarians throughout the state. She was an exceptional leader, organizer, innovator, visionary, storyteller, and writer. After obtaining her Master’s in Library Science from USC, Sumbi joined the Los Angeles County Public Library System in 1960 and remained there until she retired, 32 years later. Sumbi became the first African-American library administrator to serve as a Regional Administrator in the Los Angeles County Library System. Sumbi was known for bringing cultural programming to Chicano and African-American libraries in Los Angeles. Sumbi was named a 1994 “Living History Maker” by Turning Point magazine, and won the Phyllis Wheatley Award from International Black Writers and Artists. In 2008, she gave an oral history interview for the UCLA Center for Oral History Research. Sumbi, along with other black colleagues in the Los Angeles County Library System, worked with the officers of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) to form the California Librarians Black Caucus (CLBC).