Frank K. Walter was the first president of ACRL, serving from 1938-1939.
Phineas Lawrence Windsor (1871-1965) was the second president of ACRL (and the first president of ACRL as a self-governing division), serving from 1939-1940. During that time he was also the university librarian and director of the library school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Under his leadership, ALA formerly recognized the “Association of College and Reference Libraries” as ALA’s first division on May 31, 1940. According to the bylaws of the new division, “any section of 50 or more members shall elect from its voting membership one representative on the Board of Directors.” A life-long member of ALA, Windsor also served on the ALA Council from 1909-13, 1918-23, and in 1936. He was also instrumental in establishing the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and served on the first ARL advisory board in 1932.
Robert Bingham Downs (1903-1991) was the third President of ACRL from 1940-1941. Learn more about Robert on the ACRL 75th Anniversary website.
Donald Coney (1901–1973) was the fourth president of ACRL from 1941-1942. Learn more about Donald on the ACRL 75th Anniversary website.
Mabel Louise Conat (1888-1980) was the fifth president of ACRL, serving from 1942-1943. Learn more about Mabel on the ACRL 75th Anniversary website.
Charles B. Shaw (1894-1962) was the sixth president of ACRL, serving from 1943-1944. Learn more about Charles on the ACRL 75th Anniversary website.
Winifred Ver Nooy (1891-1967) was the seventh president of ACRL, serving from 1944-45. Prior to her service as ACRL President she served as president of the Illinois Library Association from 1933-34. She also served as president of the Chicago Library Club. Ver Nooy received her Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1912 and began working at Harper Library on the campus of the University of Chicago. She took a two year professional leave to attend library school at New York State Library School, receiving her professional degree in 1915. She then returned to the University of Chicago to serve as a reference librarian. She taught for the Graduate Library School at the University of Chicago and at the University of Illinois Library School. During her ACRL presidency, Ver Nooy published two articles, “Keeping After – War Goals in View” and “University Reference Work After the War,” in College & Research Libraries that focus on the contributions academic librarians could make to helping recovery efforts after World War II. Ver Nooy made application to the ALA executive board in June of 1945, at the end of her presidential tenure, to request that an ALA staff person serve as liaison to ACRL.
Blanche Prichard McCrum (1887-1969) was the eighth president of ACRL, serving from 1945-1946. During that time she was also the librarian at Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA. Under her leadership, a committee was appointed to study the relationship of ACRL with ALA, and the service rendered the association by College and Research Libraries was commended. Blanche also served on the ALA Council from 1941-43. Her book publications include An Estimate of Standards for a College Library (1933, 1937) and A Guide to the Study of the United States of America (1960).
Errett Weir McDiarmid (1909-2000) was the 9th president of ACRL, serving from 1946-1947. During that time he was also University Librarian and Director of the Division of Library Instruction at the University of Minnesota. Under his leadership, ACRL finally was able to garner financial support from ALA for an executive secretary of ACRL, which was important for the continuing growth of the professional organization. McDiarmid held other leadership positions within ALA, including serving as president from 1948-49. His most notable publications include The Library Survey: Problems and Methods (1940) and The Administration of the American Public Library (1943), both published by the American Library Association.
William H. Carlson (1898–1990) was the 10th president of ACRL, serving from 1947-1948. He was the director of the Libraries for the Oregon State System of Higher Education at Corvallis during the same time and served in that position for a period of twenty years. Before his appointment as the head librarian for Oregon State University in 1945, Carlson worked in several college and university libraries, including: the University of Iowa, University of North Dakota, Vanderbilt University, the University of Arizona, and the University of Washington.
