Allie Beth Martin

Martin was born in Annieville, Arkansas, on June 28, 1914, to Carleton Gayle Dent and Ethel (McCaleb) Dent. After graduating from high school in 1932, she went on to earn several degrees. She earned a B.A. in foreign languages & English from Arkansas College in 1935 and a B.S. in Library Science in 1939 from Peabody College. She later earned an M.S. in Library Science in 1949 from the Columbia University School of Library Service.The ALA Yearbook, 1976 (Centennial Edition ed. Vol. 1976). (1976). Chicago: American Library Association. p. vi

She married Ralph F. Martin, a journalist, on October 6, 1937.

Martin began working in a junior college in Little Rock, Arkansas. She joined the Arkansas Library Commission as an assistant to the executive secretary.

She started working at the Tulsa Library in 1949 and became the director of the Tulsa City-County Library in 1963.{{cite news |title=Allie Beth Martin, Headed Librarians |work=The New York Times |date=1976-04-14 |access-date=2009-10-28 |page=36 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/14/archives/allie-beth-martin-headed-librarians.html?sq=%2522Allie%2520Beth%2520Martin%2522&scp=1&st=cse}} Later she elected president of committee in 1945 and president of the ALA in 1975. She died in Tulsa on April 11, 1976.The ALA Yearbook, 1976 (Centennial Edition ed. Vol. 1976). (1976). Chicago: American Library Association. p. 31

Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Council on Library Resources in 1972, Allie Beth Martin prepared a report on whether the library meets the needs of its patrons. The report,The ALA Yearbook, 1976 (Centennial Edition ed. Vol. 1976). (1976). Chicago: American Library Association. p. 284 outlined steps that libraries should take in order to transition into the 21st Century and keep up with library's changing roles in society. After doing the preliminary study, Martin wrote the book, A Strategy for Public Library Change, which sparked a movement of library improvement programs all across the country.Martin, Allie Beth. (1972). A Strategy for Public Library Change(Chicago: American Library Association, 1972).

• She was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humanities Degree from University of Tulsa.The ALA Yearbook, 1976 (Centennial Edition ed. Vol. 1976). (1976). Chicago: American Library

Association. p. 407

• The Tulsa Regional Library was named after her as well a lecture series and a national library award.
• In 1976 she was awarded American Library Association Honorary Membership.
• The Allie Beth Martin Award has been presented annually since 1979 by the Public Library Association.{{cite web |url=http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/pla/plaawards/alliebethmartinaward/index.cfm |title=Allie Beth Martin Award |access-date=2009-10-28 |publisher=American Library Association |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100817210622/http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/pla/plaawards/alliebethmartinaward/index.cfm |archive-date=2010-08-17 |url-status=dead }}

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100327161918/http://www.library.okstate.edu/dean/jpaust/legends/people/martin.htm Oklahoma State Library Legends]

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{{s-ttl|title=President of the American Library Association|years=1975–1976}}

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Category:Library science scholars

Category:People from Lawrence County, Arkansas

Category:1914 births

Category:1976 deaths

Category:Presidents of the American Library Association

Category:Lyon College alumni

Category:Columbia University School of Library Service alumni

Category:Peabody College alumni

Category:Librarians from Arkansas

Category:20th-century American librarians

Category:Writers from Tulsa, Oklahoma

Category:20th-century American women librarians