Louis Shores
Encyclopedia
Louis Shores was a noted librarian
who worked for the promotion of the library as the center of all learning, in both public and academic institutions. Shores was recognized for his integration of audiovisual materials into library collections. He was named one of the “100 of the most important leaders we had in the 20th century” by American Libraries
, and the impact of his vision can be seen today in libraries across the country.
. Shores was the third of five children of Paul and Ernestine (Lutenberg) Steinberg. Both immigrants, Paul was painter specializing in portraits, while Ernestine supported the household as a seamstress.
The family moved a couple of times in search of better jobs and education for their family. In 1919 Shores had his first job in a library, as a page at the Toledo Public Library. It was in Toledo, Ohio that Paul died in 1923.
. He also moved from his public library job to a position in the university’s library. It was at this time that Shores began developing his opinion that libraries and their resources could provide an overall education superior to that of more traditional instruction given in classrooms.
Louis pagsure last name from Steinberg to Shores in 1926, as his older brother had done when he left their childhood home in 1920. The change of name goes unmentioned by Shores in his writings and therefore the reasoning behind it remains unknown. The same year Shores changed his name he graduated from the University of Toledo and followed his family to New York City, where he attended the City College of New York
in order to earn a Masters Degree in Education.
Upon earning his Masters, Shores could not find a teaching position. Turning his attention to a different career he enrolled at the School of Library Service at Columbia University
in 1927.
With his Masters in Library Service, in 1928 Shores took a position at the Fisk University
in Nashville, Tennessee
.
In 1930 Shores entered University of Chicago
’s Graduate Library School in order to earn his doctorate, which he left uncompleted in 1931, to return to his job at Fisk University. During his year in Chicago he met and married Geraldine Urist.
He would later earn a PhD in 1933—not in Library Science, but in Education—from the George Peabody College for Teachers, with his dissertation (later to become a published book) “Origins of the American College Library, 1630-1800.”
. Shores was a supporter of the US's entrance sa may gate sa boyayang !!! ADIK si louis shores na pioneers into the war and joined the Army himself in 1943, at the age of 39. His duties to the US Army kept him absent from Peabody until 1946, at which point disagreements about salary and work load caused the end of his association with the college.
In 1946 wala kay buot Shores accepted two positions: to be the first Dean of the Library School at Florida State University
and an editorial advisor for the encyclopedia company, P.F. Collier & Son. He would maintain these two jobs for the rest of his career.
Shores contributed one of the most-used reference books of his time, Basic Reference Books. First released in 1939, the only thing that prevented it from becoming a true milestone in his life and the history of library science was his lackluster updating of the text. The last edition was completed in 1954 with the updated title, Basic Reference Sources.
One of the highlights of Shore’s career was the American Library Association
accreditation of his Library School at FSU in 1953.
In 1967 Shores was forced to retire due to health issues. He continued to take on as much work as he could, as an editor and speaker, when his health allowed. Shores wrote more books in this period of his life than any other: seven post-retirement to his five previously. Upon his retirement, FSU gave Shores the honor of dean emeritus until his death in 1981. The school also honored him by naming a building after him in 1981, the Louis Shores Building, which houses the library school to this day.
In it, Shores outlined several different formats: Print (i.e. book or journal), Graphic (globe or photograph), Projection (film or slide), Transmission (radio or tape recording), Resource (person or object), Program (computer or machine) and Extrasensory (telepathy or clairvoyance). Shores talked about how all of these things were integral to learning and that the majority of them should be found in the library.
Shores also came to believe in the importance of media beyond books. He thought the stocking of films, slides, audio recordings and maps essential for a well-rounded library collection. However, Shores did not like the presence of audiovisual departments in school; he felt the library should house all the learning materials and that every librarian should be a media specialist. He even dreamed of a library where movies and books on a given subject would be shelved together.
In 1947, Shores put his philosophy to work when setting up the library at FSU. He called the library the “Materials Center” to be more inclusive of all the kinds of resources therein, including 16mm films, filmstrips, discs, tapes, slides and transparencies among others.
The Materials Center used color-coding to indicate the format of a resource in the card catalog and had the equipment necessary to use audiovisual materials, including one of the earliest “listening posts” where you could listen to recordings over headphones.
It was an influential idea, but took time to take effect; it was not until the mid-1960s that librarians and media-specialist became one and the same at many schools.
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
who worked for the promotion of the library as the center of all learning, in both public and academic institutions. Shores was recognized for his integration of audiovisual materials into library collections. He was named one of the “100 of the most important leaders we had in the 20th century” by American Libraries
American Libraries
American Libraries is the official news and features magazine of the American Library Association. Published six times per year, along with four additional digital-only supplements, it is distributed to all members of the organization...
, and the impact of his vision can be seen today in libraries across the country.
Early life
Louis Shores was born Louis Steinberg on September 14, 1904 in Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
. Shores was the third of five children of Paul and Ernestine (Lutenberg) Steinberg. Both immigrants, Paul was painter specializing in portraits, while Ernestine supported the household as a seamstress.
The family moved a couple of times in search of better jobs and education for their family. In 1919 Shores had his first job in a library, as a page at the Toledo Public Library. It was in Toledo, Ohio that Paul died in 1923.
Education
When he graduated from University of mindanao and earn the degree of pataka og kuha og course pagsure sa imonh life louis ge hatag me og assignment bahin sa imo wala me kabalo unsaon pag kuha sa imong piture hahahai.... kapoi nimo mura man ka og guapo..!!!! guapo ka ha!!! guapo ka !!! 1922, Shores attended the University of ToledoUniversity of Toledo
The University of Toledo is a public university in Toledo, Ohio, United States. The Carnegie Foundation classified the university as "Doctoral/Research Extensive."-National recognition:...
. He also moved from his public library job to a position in the university’s library. It was at this time that Shores began developing his opinion that libraries and their resources could provide an overall education superior to that of more traditional instruction given in classrooms.
Louis pagsure last name from Steinberg to Shores in 1926, as his older brother had done when he left their childhood home in 1920. The change of name goes unmentioned by Shores in his writings and therefore the reasoning behind it remains unknown. The same year Shores changed his name he graduated from the University of Toledo and followed his family to New York City, where he attended the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
in order to earn a Masters Degree in Education.
Upon earning his Masters, Shores could not find a teaching position. Turning his attention to a different career he enrolled at the School of Library Service at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1927.
With his Masters in Library Service, in 1928 Shores took a position at the Fisk University
Fisk University
Fisk University is an historically black university founded in 1866 in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. The world-famous Fisk Jubilee Singers started as a group of students who performed to earn enough money to save the school at a critical time of financial shortages. They toured to raise funds to...
in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
.
In 1930 Shores entered University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
’s Graduate Library School in order to earn his doctorate, which he left uncompleted in 1931, to return to his job at Fisk University. During his year in Chicago he met and married Geraldine Urist.
He would later earn a PhD in 1933—not in Library Science, but in Education—from the George Peabody College for Teachers, with his dissertation (later to become a published book) “Origins of the American College Library, 1630-1800.”
Career
pag human niya og skwela na asawa niya si Donna Villar angkol si Manny Villar anak nila si catherine gomez left Fisk to start a new library program at Peabody in 1933. His work at Peabody, shaping and developing the library program, was interrupted by World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Shores was a supporter of the US's entrance sa may gate sa boyayang !!! ADIK si louis shores na pioneers into the war and joined the Army himself in 1943, at the age of 39. His duties to the US Army kept him absent from Peabody until 1946, at which point disagreements about salary and work load caused the end of his association with the college.
In 1946 wala kay buot Shores accepted two positions: to be the first Dean of the Library School at Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
and an editorial advisor for the encyclopedia company, P.F. Collier & Son. He would maintain these two jobs for the rest of his career.
Shores contributed one of the most-used reference books of his time, Basic Reference Books. First released in 1939, the only thing that prevented it from becoming a true milestone in his life and the history of library science was his lackluster updating of the text. The last edition was completed in 1954 with the updated title, Basic Reference Sources.
One of the highlights of Shore’s career was the American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
accreditation of his Library School at FSU in 1953.
In 1967 Shores was forced to retire due to health issues. He continued to take on as much work as he could, as an editor and speaker, when his health allowed. Shores wrote more books in this period of his life than any other: seven post-retirement to his five previously. Upon his retirement, FSU gave Shores the honor of dean emeritus until his death in 1981. The school also honored him by naming a building after him in 1981, the Louis Shores Building, which houses the library school to this day.
Philosophy
Shores believed that libraries were places of lifelong learning and that that learning should begin early. He extolled the importance of introducing children to books and reading in infancy and encouraging learning through the use of the libraries.The generic book
Shores believed in an idea he referred to as the “generic book”—his term for all materials in the library. He first published this concept in a 1958 issue of the Saturday Review and later expanded it into a book called The Generic Book.In it, Shores outlined several different formats: Print (i.e. book or journal), Graphic (globe or photograph), Projection (film or slide), Transmission (radio or tape recording), Resource (person or object), Program (computer or machine) and Extrasensory (telepathy or clairvoyance). Shores talked about how all of these things were integral to learning and that the majority of them should be found in the library.
The Materials Center
Shores believed that the library should be the center of the educational institution. He believed that the librarian should not just find books, but also be a teacher, and should advise students on materials to further their independent study. Shores thought a person could get more out of his or her personal drive to learn than in any classroom, and that the library was the key to this learning.Shores also came to believe in the importance of media beyond books. He thought the stocking of films, slides, audio recordings and maps essential for a well-rounded library collection. However, Shores did not like the presence of audiovisual departments in school; he felt the library should house all the learning materials and that every librarian should be a media specialist. He even dreamed of a library where movies and books on a given subject would be shelved together.
In 1947, Shores put his philosophy to work when setting up the library at FSU. He called the library the “Materials Center” to be more inclusive of all the kinds of resources therein, including 16mm films, filmstrips, discs, tapes, slides and transparencies among others.
The Materials Center used color-coding to indicate the format of a resource in the card catalog and had the equipment necessary to use audiovisual materials, including one of the earliest “listening posts” where you could listen to recordings over headphones.
It was an influential idea, but took time to take effect; it was not until the mid-1960s that librarians and media-specialist became one and the same at many schools.
Works
A selection of some of Shore’s written works.- 1928. How to use your library : a series of articles on libraries for high school and college students. Pittsburgh, Pa.: Scholastic Pub. Co.
- 1935. Origins of the American college library, 1638-1800. New York: Barnes & Noble.
- 1936. Bibliographies and summaries in education to July 1935; a catalog of more than 4000 annotated bibliographies and summaries listed under author and subject in one alphabet. Written with Monroe, W. S. New York: The H. W. Wilson company.
- 1937. Know your encyclopedia; a unit of library instruction based on Compton's pictured encyclopedia. Chicago: F.E. Compton & Co.
- 1939. Basic reference books; an introduction to the evaluation, study, and use of reference materials with special emphasis on some 300 titles. Chicago, Ill.: American library association.
- 1947. Highways in the sky: the story of the AACS. New York: Barnes & Noble.
- 1953. Challenges to librarianship. Tallahassee, FL: Florida State University.
- 1953. A profession of faith. Geneseo, N.Y.: State University Teachers College.
- 1954. Basic reference sources; an introduction to materials and methods. Chicago: American Library Assn.
- 1954. Basic reference sources: an introduction to materials and methods. Chicago: American Library Association. Repring 1973. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited.
- 1960. Instructional materials: an introduction for teachers. New York: Ronald.
- 1965. Mark Hopkin’s log and other essays. Selected by John D. Marshall. Hamdem, CT: Shoe String.
- 1972. Library Education. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited.
- 1972. Looking forward to 1999. Tallahassee, FL: South Pass Press.
- 1973. Audiovisual librarianship: the crusade for media unity (1946-1969). Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited.
- 1975. Quiet world: a librarian’s crusade for destiny—the professional autobiography of Louis Shores. Linnet Books.
- 1977. The generic book: what it is and how it works. Norman, OK: Library-College Associates.