DARLING, Richard L(ewis) 1925-2003

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born January 19, 1925, in Great Falls, MT; died January 26, 2003, in MD. Librarian, priest, and author. Darling was a former dean of the School of Library Science at Columbia University who late in life was ordained an Episcopal priest. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he completed an M.A. degree at the University of Montana in 1950; he then went on to earn two library science degrees from the University of Michigan: an A.M.L.S. in 1954 and a Ph.D. in 1960. By this time, Darling had already worked as a librarian at University High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and as an assistant professor of library science at the University of Montana during the 1950s, as well as being a coordinator of libraries for Livonia, Michigan, public schools from 1959 to 1962. After earning his doctorate, he moved to Washington, D.C., to work as a school library specialist at the U.S. Office of Education's Library Service Bureau. During the late-1960s, Darling was a supervisor of libraries for public schools in Rockville, Maryland, moving up to director of educational media and technology from 1966 to 1970. Next, he accepted a post as dean of School Library Service at Columbia University, where he remained from 1970 until about 1985. A former president of the American Association of School Librarians and the Freedom to Read Foundation, Darling was actively involved in his profession and was very concerned about preserving intellectual freedoms in America. Nevertheless, he retired early to earn a Master of Divinity from the General Theological Seminary in New York City. Ordained an Episcopal priest, he became an assistant at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Scranton, Pennsylvania, retiring again when illness from ataxia forced him to quit. Darling was the author of several books concerning library science, including Public School Library Statistics, 1962-63 (1964) and The Rise of Children's Book Reviewing in America (1968).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

books

Ward, Martha E., and others, editors, Authors of Books for Young People, third edition, Scarecrow (Metuchen, NJ), 1990.

periodicals

American Libraries, April, 2003, p.85.