Virginia Lacy Jones facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Virginia Lacy Jones
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Virginia L. Jones in 1982, photographed by Judith Sedwick
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| Born | June 25, 1912 |
| Died | December 3, 1984 (aged 72) |
| Occupation | Librarian |
Virginia Lacy Jones (born June 25, 1912 – died December 3, 1984) was an important American librarian. For 50 years, she worked to make libraries open to everyone. She helped public and school libraries welcome people of all backgrounds. She was also one of the first African Americans to get a PhD in Library Science. Later, she became the dean of the library school at Atlanta University.
Contents
Early Life and Library Dreams
Virginia Lacy was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 25, 1912. Her parents were Edward and Ellen Lacy. She spent most of her childhood in Clarksburg, West Virginia. She remembered her family as "poor, hardworking, proud, and ambitious." Books and reading were always a big part of her home life. She and her mother often visited the public library in Clarksburg. This library was not separated by race.
In 1927, Jones moved to St. Louis, Missouri. She lived with her aunt and uncle there. She really wanted to go to college, but her family could not afford it. She went to Sumner High School, where her uncle taught. She finished high school in 1929.
Finding Her Path to Libraries
While in high school, Jones realized she wanted to be a librarian. An experience at the St. Louis Public Library inspired her. She was researching for an essay contest for her church. She needed information about "The Values of Attending Sunday School." A friendly librarian helped her. The librarian showed her how to use special indexes to find articles.
Jones later said, "This experience was thrilling for me." She was amazed by the "magic of the St. Louis Public Library." She saw it as a huge place of information and ideas. She thought being a librarian, like the one who helped her, "would be the greatest thing in the world."
Education and Career Journey
After high school, Jones decided not to become a teacher. Instead, she went to the Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia. At that time, it was the only library school in the South for African Americans. There, she met Florence Rising Curtis. Curtis was the director of the library school. She became a mentor to Jones. Jones earned her Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Library Science from Hampton in 1933.
Later that year, she started working in Kentucky. She was an assistant librarian at Louisville Municipal College. This college was the African-American branch of the segregated University of Louisville. Jones soon realized she needed a higher degree to advance her career. First, she had to get a bachelor's degree in education. She returned to the Hampton Institute and earned a B.S. in Social Studies Education in 1935.
Facing Segregation in Libraries
During her second time at Hampton, Florence Curtis invited Jones to a conference. It was the American Library Association's annual meeting in Richmond, Virginia. Black attendees could not stay in the main hotel or visit all the exhibits. Special plans had to be made for them to attend meetings.
Because Jones had a light complexion, she was able to stay at the hotel. She could also view the exhibits. Jones later said she did not like pretending to be white. But she felt a sense of victory in "outsmarting" the unfair racial rules.
Around this time, people realized how important it was to train African-American school librarians. Florence Curtis suggested creating summer classes for them. She chose Jones to lead a program at Prairie View A&M College in Texas. There, Jones taught courses on finding information, choosing books, and managing school libraries.
Advanced Degrees and Leadership
In 1936, Jones went back to Louisville Municipal College. She became the Head Librarian. She also taught classes for African-American librarians. These classes helped them earn college credit for state certification.
Jones was ready for graduate school. She received a special scholarship from the General Education Board. Her mentor, Florence Curtis, recommended her. Curtis believed Jones would greatly help library services for African Americans in the South. In 1938, Jones earned her master's degree in Library Science from the University of Illinois.
After her master's, she returned to Louisville Municipal College again. But the leadership had changed. Jones found the work environment difficult and decided to resign.
The day after she resigned, Rufus Clement offered her a job. He was the president of Atlanta University. Jones knew Clement from Louisville Municipal College. He wanted to create a new library school at Atlanta University.
Building a New Library School
Moving to Atlanta was very exciting for Jones. Her new job allowed her to help plan the Atlanta University School of Library Service. She visited other library schools across the Eastern United States. She observed their programs. The new school opened in 1941. Its goal was to train librarians and create leaders. These leaders would improve library services in the South, especially for African Americans.
Jones had two jobs at the university. She was a catalog librarian and an instructor. Also in 1941, she married Edward A. Jones. He was a French professor at Morehouse College.
After teaching for two years, Virginia Lacy Jones received another scholarship. This allowed her to attend the University of Chicago Graduate Library School. In 1945, she became the second African American to earn a doctorate in Library Science. Her research was about the challenges faced by high school libraries for Black students in Southern cities.
Dean of the Library School
In 1945, she became the Dean of the Atlanta University School of Library Service. She was the second person to hold this position. The first was Eliza Atkins Gleason, who was the first African American to get a doctorate in Library Science. Jones served as dean for 36 years, until 1981. During her time, the school trained about 1800 Black librarians. This was more than any other school in the country.
After she retired, Jones became the first director of the Robert W. Woodruff Library at the Atlanta University Center. She held this job from 1982 to 1983. Throughout her career, Jones wrote about library issues in the South. She also wrote about library education for African Americans. The Robert W. Woodruff Library now keeps many of her papers, letters, and photos.
Virginia Lacy Jones passed away in December 1984 in Atlanta. She was buried in South-View Cemetery.
Honors and Awards
Virginia Lacy Jones received many awards and honors during her career.
- In 1967, she was the first African American to be elected president of the Association for Library and Information Science Education.
- That same year, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed her to a special committee. She helped write a report about library services for children and young people.
- In 1973, the American Library Association gave her the Melville Dewey Award. She was the first African American to receive this award.
- In 1977, she also received the Joseph W. Lippincott Award.
- In 1976, she became an honorary member of the American Library Association. This is the highest honor from the association.
- Other awards include an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Michigan (1979).
- She also received the Beta Phi Mu Award (1980).
- In 1980, she received the Mary Rothrock Award.
- In 1985, the exhibition hall at the Robert W. Woodruff Library was named after her.
- In 1999, American Libraries magazine named her one of the "100 Most Important Leaders We Had in the 20th Century."
