Powell, Lawrence Clark, 1906-2001

Lawrence Clark Powell was a noted writer and librarian. Powell was well-known for his writings on librarianship and the literature of the American Southwest, including books such as Books West Southwest and Southwest Classics. He served as head librarian at UCLA from 1944 to 1961, when he became the founding dean of the UCLA Graduate School of Library Service. After retiring from UCLA, Powell moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1971, where he served as a Professor in Residence at the University of Arizona's newly-established Graduate School of Library Science. He played a major role in the development of the School as well as the University of Arizona Library until the late 1980s. Powell died in Tucson on March 14, 2001 at the age of 94.

From the guide to the Lawrence Clark Powell papers, 1890-2001 (bulk, 1971-1991), (University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections)

John Steinbeck (1902-1968) was an American author. Lawrence Clark Powell (1906-2001) was University Librarian at the University of California at Los Angeles and director of their William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. Among his other interests, Powell conducted bibliographical studies on Steinbeck and collected Steinbeck's first editions.

From the guide to the Lawrence Clark Powell papers concerning John Steinbeck, 1935-1941., (Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University)

Lawrence Clark Powell was born Sept. 3, 1906 in Washington, D.C.; his family moved to South Pasadena, CA in 1910. He earned a BA from Occidental College in 1928 and his Ph.D. from the University of Dijon, France, in 1932. He worked at Jake Zeitlin's bookstore in Los Angeles during the mid-1930s and graduated from the library school at UC Berkeley in 1937. He worked briefly at the Los Angeles Public Library before joining the UCLA Library staff in 1938. He served as the UCLA Librarian from 1944 to 1961, director of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library from 1944 to 1966, and became the first Dean, UCLA School of Library Service, in 1960. When he retired from UCLA in 1966, the campus's main library was named in his honor. A prolific author, Powell's writings include books and articles on a variety of topics including literature, librarianship, the book trade, California history, and travel. He served as professor-in-residence at the University of Arizona from 1971, and was awarded an Honorary Life Membership in the American Library Association in 1981. He died in February (?) 2001.

From the description of Collection on Lawrence Clark Powell, 1937-1990. (San Leandro Community Library). WorldCat record id: 703637375

Powell was head librarian at UCLA and wrote several books on the literature of the American Southwest.

From the description of Lawrence Clark Powell Southwest broadside collection, 1953- 1956. (Museum of New Mexico Library). WorldCat record id: 37397756

From the guide to the Lawrence Clark Powell Southwest Broadside Collection, 1953-1956, (Museum of New Mexico. Fray Angélico Chávez History Library.)

American librarian and author.

From the description of Autograph letter signed : Los Angeles, to Frederick B. Adams, Jr., 1939 Aug. 26. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270618863

Powell was born Sept. 3, 1906 in Washington, D.C.; his family moved to South Pasadena, CA, 1910; BA, Occidental College, 1928; Ph. D., Univ. of Dijon, France, 1932; worked at Jake Zeitlin's bookstore in Los Angeles, mid-1930s; graduated from library school, UC Berkeley, 1937; worked briefly at the Los Angeles Public Library; joined the UCLA Library staff in 1938; UCLA Librarian, 1944-61, and director of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 1944-66; became the first Dean, UCLA School of Library Service, 1960; when he retired from UCLA in 1966, the campus's main library was named in his honor; a prolific author, Powell's writings include books and articles on a variety of topics including literature, librarianship, the book trade, California history, and travel; professor-in-residence at the Univ. of Arizona from 1971; awarded an Honorary Life Membership of the American Library Association, 1981.

From the description of Papers, 1914- (University of California, Los Angeles). WorldCat record id: 38060659

Biographical note

Lawrence Clark Powell was born Sept. 3, 1906 in Washington, D.C.; his family moved to South Pasadena, CA in 1910. He earned a BA from Occidental College in 1928 and his Ph.D. from the University of Dijon, France, in 1932. He worked at Jake Zeitlin's bookstore in Los Angeles during the mid-1930s and graduated from the library school at UC Berkeley in 1937. He worked briefly at the Los Angeles Public Library before joining the UCLA Library staff in 1938. He served as the UCLA Librarian from 1944 to 1961, director of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library from 1944 to 1966, and became the first Dean, UCLA School of Library Service, in 1960. When he retired from UCLA in 1966, the campus's main library was named in his honor. A prolific author, Powell's writings include books and articles on a variety of topics including literature, librarianship, the book trade, California history, and travel. He served as professor-in-residence at the University of Arizona from 1971, and was awarded an Honorary Life Membership in the American Library Association in 1981. He died in February (?) 2001.

From the guide to the Collection on Lawrence Clark Powell, 1937-1990, (USC Libraries Special Collections)

Biographical Information:

Lawrence Clark Powell was born in Washington D.C. in 1906, graduated from Occidental College in 1928, and received his PhD from the University of Dijon, France, in 1932. Upon returning to the United States, Powell took apprenticeships among bookstores, publishers and libraries of Los Angeles and entered the Library Science program at the University of California, Berkeley from which he received his Master of Library Science in 1937. Powell joined the staff of the University of California Los Angeles library in 1938 and held the position of University Librarian from 1944-1961 and Dean of the Graduate School of Library Service from 1960-1966. During his years at UCLA, the library grew from 400,000 to 3 million volumes, he created the Special Collections Department of the library and he founded the Graduate School of Library Service. As a result of his contributions to UCLA, the undergraduate library was renamed in his honor.

From the guide to the Lawrence Clark Powell Collection, 1964-1984, (Special Collections & University Archives)

Biography

Powell was born September 3, 1906 in Washington, D.C.; his family moved to South Pasadena, California, 1910; BA, Occidental College, 1928; Ph.D., University of Dijon, France, 1932; worked at Jake Zeitlin's bookstore in Los Angeles, mid-1930s; graduated from library school, University of California at Berkeley, 1937; worked briefly at the Los Angeles Public Library; joined the UCLA Library staff in 1938; UCLA Librarian, 1944-61, and director of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 1944-66; became the first Dean, UCLA School of Library Service, 1960; when he retired from UCLA in 1966, the campus's main library was named in his honor; a prolific author, Powell's writings include books and articles on a variety of topics including literature, librarianship, the book trade, California history, and travel; professor-in-residence at the University of Arizona from 1971; awarded an Honorary Life Membership of the American Library Association, 1981. Powell died in 2001.

Biographical Narrative

Lawrence Clark Powell was born in Washington, D.C., on September 3, 1906. His parents, G. Harold and Gertrude (Clark) Powell, soon moved to Southern California, where Lawrence grew up. His early schooling was in South Pasadena, and he attended Occidental College in Los Angeles, where he received a bachelor's degree in English in 1928. Moving to France for his graduate studies, Lawrence Powell earned a Ph.D. at the University of Dijon in 1932, for work on Robinson Jeffers and his poetry. Soon after his return to the United States, Dr. Powell married Fay Ellen Shoemaker; they have two sons.

Although Lawrence Clark Powell knew that his main interest was in books, he had not yet discovered librarianship, and for several years he worked with booksellers in Los Angeles. During this period he helped Ward Ritchie and Jake Zeitlin, who had begun the Ward Ritchie and the Primavera Presses, to publish western books. Then he decided to go to the UC School of Librarianship at Berkeley, where in 1937 he received the certificate of librarianship.

Lawrence Clark Powell's first position after graduation was with the Los Angeles Public Library; he soon (1938) joined the UCLA library, however, with which he has been associated since. In 1944 Lawrence Clark Powell was appointed Director of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, and in the same year he became Head Librarian of the UCLA Library. The Clark Library, specializing in books on English civilization of the 17th and early 18th centuries, grew from 16,000 volumes in 1934 to over 65,000 today, and the UCLA library as a whole went from 480,000 to 1,570,000 volumes during the period that Dr. Powell was at its head.

Due to Lawrence Clark Powell's efforts, in 1946 the library organized a department of Special Collections to house rare and valuable material. Dr. Powell's frequent book-hunting trips, such as the year spent in England (1951) in conjunction with a Guggenheim Fellowship, have enriched this department. As a result of Dr. Powell's activities UCLA obtained the noted Sadleir Collection of 19th-Century Fiction, as well as other important collections. Another project dear to the heart of UCLA's head librarian was the establishment of a School of Library Service on the UCLA campus. The school came into being in the fall of 1960, with Lawrence Clark Powell as its first dean. In June, 1961, Dr. Powell relinquished the title of University Librarian to Robert Vosper, continuing as Dean of the Library School and as Director of the Clark Library.

Lawrence Clark Powell is a vigorous proponent of a philosophy of librarianship stressing thorough knowledge of books and desire to serve the needs of the public rather than technological developments, or as he has called them, mechanical house-keeping techniques..

Using various means for diffusing his ideas on books and libraries, Lawrence Clark Powell has become known as an educator, a lecturer, and an author. In 1954 he spent a year as visiting professor of library science at Columbia University, and from 1955 to 1960 as Lecturer in English he taught a course called Libraries and Learning (English 195), at UCLA. 1960, of course, saw Dr. Powell as Dean of the new UCLA Library School.

Only a brief indication can be given here of the extent of Dr. Powell's speaking and writing. Among a number of distinguished speaking engagements can be noted the Randolph G. Adams Memorial Lectureship at the University of Michigan (1953), the library lectureship at the University of Tennessee (1954), and the annual lecture given at the meeting of the Library Association of Great Britain (at Harrogate, 1957). Dr. Powell has been heard in many radio broadcasts, including the Books I Like series he gave on KFAC (Los Angeles) in 1935.

A prolific author, Lawrence Clark Powell has written over 300 items: books, magazine articles, essays, book reviews, forewords and introductions to books, bibliographies, etc. He has made a significant contribution to the literature of the library profession, but he also writes for the book-minded public. His interests are reflected in the subjects that recur throughout his writings; these are history and travel, especially concerning the American Southwest, rare books, libraries and librarianship, the book trade, and book collecting.

As a measure of his involvement with the community, a few of the many organizations to which Lawrence Clark Powell has belonged can be cited. Dr. Powell has been a member of the American Library Association and many other such associations, president of the California Library Association in 1950, and president of the Bibliographical Society of America in 1954-55; he is a Phi Gamma Delta member, and belongs to the Zamorano Club (Los Angeles).

Dr. Powell has been recognized by Occidental College with the award of an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (1955) and by the Carnegie Institute of Technology with the honorary title of Doctor of Humane Letters (1961). Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, awarded him this same degree in 1963.

The Lawrence Clark Powell Papers were given to the UCLA Department of Special Collections as a continuing gift of Dr. Powell, in 1950. The collection is a growing one, as new material is added from time to time. The collection consists of manuscripts with holograph corrections, copies of Lawrence Clark Powell's publications, bibliographies and reviews of his works, tape recordings of speeches, correspondence, records of classes he has taught and organizations to which he has belonged, articles about Dr. Powell, and personal memorabilia and juvenilia.

Additional information and papers of Lawrence Clark Powell can be found in the Powell Family Papers, Collection Number 230; in the Records of the Office of the Librarian, B18, Series 9; and in other entries under Powell, Lawrence Clark, in the Numbered Collections Catalogue.

From the guide to the Lawrence Clark Powell Papers, 1914-, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.)