George Stewart

From Bhamwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This article is about the Birmingham Public Library director. For other uses, see George Stewart (disambiguation).

George Ray Stewart (born 1944) was the director of the Birmingham Public Library from 1976 to 1984. Stewart’s career spanned 33 years with the library system and four years as director of Jefferson County Library Cooperative. He also served on the committee to secure initial accreditation for the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) at the University of Alabama.

Stewart grew up within walking distance of the Central Park Library in Birmingham, Alabama. His father was a carpenter and craftsman. In 1960, while still in high school, he was offered a job at the Central Park Library as a page and later promoted to library assistant.

Stewart worked in the Southern History department of the Central Library during undergraduate studies at Samford University (1966) and during the completion of his master’s degree in history in 1967. He was encouraged to pursue his Master of Library Science (MLS); however, at the time, the closest MLS program was located at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Stewart commuted to classes in Atlanta, and pending completion of his MLS at Emory, was appointed to the Associate Director position in 1969. In January 1976, Stewart was named Director of Central Library, a position he served for sixteen years.

Stewart actively worked to change the segregated status of libraries in Alabama, which in the 1960s were segregated public service facilities, to make them welcome to all citizens. He created a unified pay scale, implemented a five-day workweek, and insisted that new staffing policies included full integration of the library staff, allowing all people the opportunity to work at the Birmingham Public Library.

When Jefferson County Commissioners asked Stewart to investigate ways to improve library service for the entire county, Stewart prepared a long-range plan for a countywide system, securing approval and cooperation from the directors, boards, and governments of all of the municipal libraries to begin countywide cooperative services and creating the “One County, One Library Card” Jefferson County Library Cooperative (JCLC). Stewart planned and obtained support and funding for the construction of many new libraries in Jefferson County. He developed the first system-wide Internet access and first digitally accessed databases in the state. Stewart served in executive council positions with the Alabama Library Association and on numerous committees with Alabama Public Library Service.

Beginning in 1981, Stewart presided over the replacement of the existing Central Library building (built in 1927). The modern design of the new building, completed in 1984 and designed by architects Morris-Aubry of Houston, differed dramatically from the neo-classical, columned design of the existing structure. The new four-story building was linked by a pedestrian skyway over 21st Street to the old building, which was converted to archives, the Tutwiler (Southern History) Collection, storage and administrative offices.

On October 6, 2016, George R. Stewart was inducted into the University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences Hall of Fame, recognizing his leadership and significant contribution to the field of library and information studies education.

Stewart and and his wife Nancy have two sons and four grandchildren. An accident in 2010 left Stewart unable to walk. Stewart's story is featured in Madeleine Lefebvre's 2006 book, The Romance of Libraries.

This article is a stub. You can help Bhamwiki by expanding it.

References

External Links

Retrieved from "http://bhamwiki.com/w/index.php?title=George_Stewart&oldid=213457"