A library career that spans 50 years in two countries and capped with the presidency of the American Library Association will come to a close next year with the retirement of Michael Gorman, dean of Library Services at California State University, Fresno.

Gorman, dean since 1988, will direct library operations through December 2006 and then take administrative leave prior to retiring next summer. He will continue to offer counsel on the construction of the new Madden Library, a $91 million project to be completed in 2008.

“Clearly Michael’s contributions to his profession have been significant, as have been his contributions to the development of the Henry Madden Library for the past 18 years,” said Dr. Jeri Echeverria, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.

Gorman is the current president of the American Library Association, the oldest and largest library organization in the world.

Gorman’s first library job was at the Hampstead [London] Public Library as a “junior assistant.” His career took him to the British Library and the Library of the University of Illinois, Urbana. He also taught at library schools in Britain and in the United States, including the University of California, Los Angeles.

Gorman was the first editor of the “Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules,” second edition, in 1978 and its revisions. His book “Our Enduring Values” (2000), was the winner of American Library Association’s 2001 Highsmith Award for the best book on librarianship. His most recent book is “Our Own Selves: More Meditations for Librarians” (2005).

Gorman has been the recipient of numerous awards and was made a fellow of the British Library Association in 1979 and an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in 2005.

(Copy by University Communications student-intern Megan Jacobsen.)