Hardy R. Franklin

Hardy R. Franklin
President of the American Library Association
In office
1993–1994
Preceded byMarilyn L. Miller
Succeeded byArthur Curley
Personal details
Born(1929-05-09)May 9, 1929
Rome, Georgia, US
DiedAugust 22, 2004(2004-08-22) (aged 75)
Washington, D.C., US
Education
OccupationLibrarian

Hardy Rogers Franklin (May 9, 1929 – August 22, 2004)[1] was an American librarian and served as president of the American Library Association from 1993 to 1994.[2]

Franklin received a bachelor's degree from Morehouse College and began a career as a teacher and librarian in Conyers, Georgia. He served as a librarian in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955 in Okinawa, Japan. He received a master's degree in library science from Atlanta University in 1956 and moved to New York to work at the Brooklyn Public Library. In 1971, after graduating from Rutgers University with a doctorate in library science, he taught at Queens College.[3][4]

Franklin moved to Washington, D.C. in 1974 to lead the District of Columbia Public Library. In DC, he led an effort to dedicate a mural to the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and extended the library's online catalog to high schools and the University of the District of Columbia. Franklin established community libraries, an arts library and a weekly "dial-a-story" program.[5]

  1. ^ Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, US: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015.
  2. ^ "ALA's Past Presidents". American Library Association. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Hardy Franklin, Ex-DCPL Head, Dies at 75". Library Journal. August 31, 2004. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  4. ^ Schudel, Matt (August 27, 2004). "D.C. Public Library Director Hardy R. Franklin, 75". Washington Post. p. B06. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  5. ^ Patti, Nicholas (2005). "Franklin, Hardy R. 1929 -". Contemporary Black Biography 1995. Thomson Gale. Retrieved 17 March 2016.