Carnovsky, Leon

Carnovsky, Leon

(1903–75) librarian, educator; born in St. Louis, Mo. He received an A.B. from the University of Missouri (1927) and a Ph.D. from the Graduate Library School of the University of Chicago (1932), where he remained as a professor until his retirement in 1971. From 1941 to 1963 he was managing editor of the Library Quarterly. He became known as a surveyor of libraries and library problems and he conducted surveys of libraries throughout the U.S.A. For the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization he produced reports of library education in Israel (1957) and Greece (1962). Particularly important among his many journal articles is "The Obligations and Responsibilities of the Librarian Concerning Censorship" (1950), which has been frequently reprinted and which arose from his position as chairman of the American Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee.