Author: Larry T. Nix

Zona Gale, a Portage (WI) native and Pulitzer Prize winning author, was a lifelong friend and champion of Wisconsin’s libraries. She used her celebrity to promote libraries wherever possible. She was a member of the Wisconsin Free Library Commission (1921-1932) and served as its Chair in 1921-1924 and 1926-1929. She also served as a member of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents. She won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1921 for her play “Miss LuLu Bett”. Her home was donated to the City of Portage in 1946 to house the Portage Public Library. She is a member of the Wisconsin Writers Hall of Fame. She received both a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Gale was inducted into the Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame on October 25, 2012.

Photo: Wisconsin Historical Society Digital Collection.
 

John Miller Chancellor had a distinguished career at the national level where he was an authority and proponent on adult eduction in public libraries. He served as the Adult Education Specialist for the American Library Association from 1934-1942. He resigned from ALA and moved to Wisconsin in 1943 where he became a farmer in Mount Horeb. He was appointed to the Wisconsin Free Library Commission at a critical point in the development of public libraries in Wisconsin. He served on the Commission from 1947-1951 and was its Chair in 1949-1951. He was a major contributor to the publication “The Wisconsin-Wide Library Idea for voluntary Education through Reading” (1948).  On the Commission he defended intellectual freedom during the McCarthy era. He was made an Honorary Member of the American Library Association in 1962. Honorary membership in ALA is conferred on individuals whose contribution to librarianship is “so outstanding that it is of lasting importance to the advancement of the whole field of library service”.  Earlier positions included: reference assistant at the New York Public Library; readers advisor at the New Haven (CT) Public Library; and supervising librarian at the U. S. Bureau of Prisons. Chancellor was inducted into the Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame on October 25, 2012.

Richard E. Krug served as city librarian of the Milwaukee Public Library from 1941 to 1974. During his long tenure as city librarian he transformed the library system. His accomplishments included construction of a major addition to the central library and a reorganization of the system’s branch libraries. Under his leadership the library began the use of data processing in 1947. As city librarian he strongly defended intellectual freedom. He was instrumental in developing the Charles Allis Art Library. He served as President of the Wisconsin Library Association in 1946-1947. He received WLA’s Special Service Award in 1974. The Krug Rare Book Room in the Central Library of the Milwaukee Public Library is named in honor of Krug and his wife Lucile. Krug received both his bachelor’s degree (1927) and his law degree (1929) from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He started as the municipal reference librarian at the Milwaukee Public Library in 1930 and became assistant City librarian in 1939. Krug was inducted into the Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame on October 25, 2012.

Further reading: Ring, Daniel F. “Richard Krug: The Bookman as a Librarian” Libraries & Culture, vol. 29, no. 3 (1994: 257-272.

Gerald A. Somers served as Director of the Green Bay Public Library (later the Brown County Library) from 1961 to 1987. He played a leadership role in the development of legislation that established Wisconsin’s public library systems. Somers was President of WLA in 1965-1966, and was WLA Librarian of the Year in 1972. He was instrumental in establishing the Brown County Library, the first consolidated county library in the state. Somers served in the U.S. Air Force from 1941 until his discharge in 1945. He later attended Knox College and the University of Chicago where he earned a Bachelor of Library Science Degree in 1948. Somers was employed as a Director of the Norris Branch of the Milwaukee Public Library from 1950-1956; Director of the Eau Claire Public Library from 1956-1961; Director of Kellogg Public Library in Green Bay from 1961-1968, and the Brown County Library from 1968 until his retirement in 1987. Somers was inducted into the Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame on October 25, 2012.