Honored by: | Barbara Haring |
Brick location: | G:16 map |
Carol grew up in Southern California and received a B.A. degree from UCLA in 1953. She was an eyewitness to the historic debate between Congressional candidates Richard M. Nixon and Helen Gahagan Douglas. She was a co-worker with Dorothy Warren, daughter of Earl Warren, at the UCLA Biomedical Library and, with her, joined the American Civil Liberties Union and campaigned for Adlai Stevenson's unsuccessful quests for the U.S. presidency.
Carol's interest in social justice, civil liberties and civil rights have shaped her personal and professional life - and help explain why she is such a strong advocate of intellectual freedom and equal accessibility to library services for everyone.
Carol moved to Iowa City in 1959. The mother of two sons, she devoted most of her time to family life but was active in the Iowa City League of Women Voters and the Democratic Party. She had earned a Master of Library Science degree from the University of Illinois and for a brief time served as a reference librarian at the University of Iowa Libraries.
Carol has been honored as a tremendous community leader and volunteer. "She's one of the people who has made a difference in the community". Her first permanent position at the Iowa City Public Library was part-time -- at a time when the city did not offer benefits to part-time employees. Carol believed this policy discriminated against women in the work force --especially mothers who were unable to work full-time. She made her case to the city and became one of the first part-time Iowa City employees to receive benefits -- a policy still in place. While at ICPL, Carol has served as the business reference librarian, acting head of the information department and coordinator of the community services department. In 1991, she added audio/visual services to her responsibilities. Carol retired from the ICPL on December 30, 1994 at the age of 64 after 26 years of service.
Carol has been active in community issues - among them: reapportionment, judicial reform, fair housing, urban renewal, comprehensive planning, housing standards, the anti-war movement, the women's movement, fairness in local high school athletics - especially team sports for girls, the United Way, Pilot Club, Project HOPE, the Mental Health Center, and the Alliance for the Mentally Ill. She also was one of the organizers of local 183 of AFSCME, the city employees union.
Submitted on 1/24/95