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Name of Your Library (if applicable):
U*N*A*B*A*S*H*E*D Librarian, 'how I run my library good' letter
Library Website:
About Me:
With my wife, Paula Shara Freedman, we have published the U*N*A*B*A*S*H*E*D Librarian, 'how I run my library good' letter since 2000; I am a Past President of ALA. See my web site, mjfreedman.org for more information about my experience; publishing, speaking and consulting; professional activities; and copies of my publications--as of June 2003. (complete update is in progress) I retired in 2005 from the directorship of the Westchester (NY) Library System; worked at the Library of Congress (1965-1968), Information Dynamics Corp (1968-1969), Hennepin County (MN) Library, New York Public Library (1974-1977), taught at Columbia University's (now defunct) School of Library Service (1977-1982), and WLS (1982-2005). I grew up in Newark NJ where I worked as a Junior Library Clerk (part-time) at the Newark Public Library's Weequahic Branch, Main Library, and Business Branch (1955-1959) while attending Weequahic High School and Newark Rutgers (BA, 1961); also worked as a bibliographical assistant at the University of California's Bancroft Library and the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley CA, while attending UC Berkeley's School of Librarianship (MLS, 1965). Neither I nor the people I worked for at the Newark Public Library had the slightest idea I would become a librarian--they surely were more shocked than I was based on my mediocre to bad performance while employed there. I worked primarily as a technical services manager; especially concerned with the application of information technology to bibliographical control, and what in earlier days was called library automation. I also taught in these areas, including cataloging, at Columbia, but also as an adjunct at Rutgers University and Pratt Institute; I consulted or gave presentations in about 30 countries and most U.S. states; I also lectured at 11 or more library schools. I published numerous articles, reports, and a few monographs, primarily in the areas of cataloging, automation, and information technology and bibliographical control, but also library service in all types of libraries, and a basic list of jazz CDs for a public library and a jazz column. In addition to having been President of the American Library Association, 2002-2003, I served on the ALA Council and innumerable ALA positions, as well as chair, committee, etc. assignments in other national, regional, state, and local professional organizations. In 1977-1978 I was President of the Information Science and Automation Division of ALA, which subsequently became LITA, the Library and Information Technology Association. At present, in addition to editing and publishing the U*N*A*B*A*S*H*E*D Librarian, 'how I run my library good' letter, I do consulting; have given papers and chaired sessions at the last three Crimea Conferences (Sudak, Ukraine on the Black Sea) and while in the area, I gave presentations in Lviv, Odessa, and Kiyv, Ukraine, and lectured and consulted in Tbilisi, Georgia. I continue to be an active consultant. I currently am organizing the third annual conference "Web 2.0, Social Networking, and Libraries", March 16, 2010, co-sponsored by ILIAC (a Moscow-Washington DC based library organization), the Harriman Institute and Columbia University Libraries, and the U*N*A*B*A*S*H*E*D Librarian. The prior two conferences were "Open Access and Libraries" (2009) and "Google and Libraries" (2008). All of the conferences are held at Columbia University. I am married to Paula Shara Freedman, and have four children (youngest to oldest): Jesse, Danna, Susan, and Jenna, the latter two with my first wife, Hermene Terry I love taking photos and have had several exhibits (all in libraries); I am still heartbroken over the death of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1957; I now root for the Mets and have hated the Yankees since 1947; I am a jazz fan who especially loves Louis Armstrong, Clifford Brown, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Count Basie, Woody Herman, and too many others to list.
