Struggles Within: Lura G. Currier, the Mississippi Library Commission, and Library Services to African Americans

摘要

Lura G. Currier was director of the Mississippi Library Commission (MLC) from 1957 to 1967. She earned an international reputation for her tireless work to expand public library services. A state employee, Currier felt obligated to obey Mississippi laws requiring the racial segregation of libraries and of Mississippi Library Association activities, contrary to American Library Association policies and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Examination of Currier's prolific and expressive correspondence provides a rare glimpse into the professional life and mind of a southern white librarian struggling to reconcile her professional ethics and standards with the realities of segregation.