Russell Shank, former UCLA head librarian, dies at 86

Russell Shank, UCLA’s head librarian from 1977 to 1989, died June 26 at the UC Irvine Medical Center. He was 86.

Shank, a professor emeritus in the Department of Information Studies, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the 1970s, greatly hindering his ability to walk.

At the American Library Association’s annual convention in Anaheim on June 23, Shank tipped over in his cranberry red motorized scooter, hitting his head, said Susan Shank, Shank’s 60-year-old daughter from Virginia. Susan Shank said her father slipped into a coma the next day and died in the hospital three days later.

During his tenure as university librarian at UCLA, Russell Shank played a key role in centralizing the UCLA Library’s catalog and putting it online.

“He was forward thinking ““ always looking ahead,” said Gary Strong, current UCLA head librarian as well as a long-time friend and colleague of Shank’s. Strong was the state librarian of California when Shank was UCLA’s head librarian.

“We would not be in the position we are today in terms of our automated systems if he hadn’t laid the groundwork then,” Strong added.

Shank was attending the University of Washington as an electrical engineering student in the 1940s when he happened to take a library science course, Susan Shank said.

“He loved it,” she said.

Shank’s love for the field led to his long career as a librarian.

He was the director of libraries at the Smithsonian Institution before coming to UCLA. In 1978, Shank also became president of the American Library Association and met Strong through the organization.

Strong worked with Shank to establish the University of California Southern Regional Library Facility in 1987, Strong said. The facility, located on the UCLA campus, houses UC library materials, manuscripts and archival collections.

Shank was a staunch advocate for intellectual freedom in libraries, said Christine Borgman, a professor of information studies. He believed people should be able to read anything they wanted and do so anonymously, which he incorporated into UCLA’s online catalog, she said. Instead of keeping track of the books people checked out, Russell made sure book choices were kept anonymous, Borgman added.

Shank’s library staff and the information studies faculty backed his philosophy, Borgman said.
“His staff admired him greatly,” said Robert Hayes, a professor emeritus in the Department of Information Studies. While Shank was university librarian, Hayes was the dean of the UCLA Graduate School of Library and Information Science ““ before it merged with the Graduate School of Education in 1994.

Both Strong and Borgman said they remember Shank most for his sense of humor, even after he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

“I remember him as a charming man with a big smile,” Borgman said. “He always had something clever to say while riding around campus on that little cranberry red scooter. It’s remarkable the degree of health and robustness that he was able to maintain. That’s why his sense of humor was notable.”

At the UCLA Library’s annual reception for donors of the library in March, Strong and Shank explored the ground floor of the newly renovated Charles E. Young Research Library.

Strong remembered how Shank admired the changed building as they passed by the reading room and research commons in YRL ““ Shank in his cranberry red motorized scooter, Strong walking alongside. Shank then looked up at Strong and asked with a grin: “Want to race?”

“That was just typical of his sense of humor,” Strong said. “Always looking not at his limitations, but at the scope beyond which he could achieve.”

Shank was born on Sept. 2, 1925 in Spokane, Washington. He earned degrees in electrical engineering and librarianship at the University of Washington, a master’s of business administration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a doctorate in library science at Columbia University.

Shank was divorced. He is survived by his three children, Susan Shank, Peter Shank and Judy Twist, as well as three grandchildren.

Strong said friends of Shank’s at UCLA will hold a memorial service on campus later this summer or in the fall. The date and time will be announced, he added.