Frances Laverne Carroll

Dr. Frances Laverne Carroll, librarian, educator and friend, was born to Robert Allen Carroll and Truda Kilda (Flanagan) on December 6, 1925, in Scammon, Kan. She died June 4, 2012 in Norman, Okla., at the Arbor House, Reminisce Center.

She had a brother, Robert Allen Carroll Jr., who was nine years her elder. Laverne and her mother were baptized in Lost Creek during a revival at the Methodist Church in Wyandotte, Oklahoma; where they lived during the Depression.

School was fun for Laverne and easy with the exception of speeches. She worked three evenings a week in a drugstore when she was a senior in high school. In 1943, she graduated from Baxter Springs High School, Kan., as Salutatorian.

In 1948, she graduated with a Certificate of Bachelor of Science in Education, Kansas State Teachers College (Pittsburg, Kan.) In 1956, she graduated with a Master of Arts in library science, University of Denver, Colo. In 1970, she graduated with a Ph.D. in general education with fields in higher education, International Education and Media, University of Oklahoma, Norman. Her Ph.D. dissertation was “The Development of an Instrument for the Evaluation of Internationalism in Education for Librarianship.”

She began her career as a bookkeeper in the Baxter Springs Bank, Kan., in 1944. From 1947-1949, she was a teacher of English and journalism at Caney High School, Caney, Kansas. From 1949-1954, she was a librarian at Field Kindley Memorial High School in Coffeyville, Kan.

From 1954-1962, she was a librarian at Coffeyville Kansas Junior College. From 1957-1962, she was also the superintendent of elementary school libraries for Coffeyville, Kan.

In 1962, Laverne moved to Norman, Okla., to take a teaching position in the School of Library Science at the University of Oklahoma She was Assistant Professor of library science from 1962-67, an associate professor from 1972-75, acting director for the school of library science for 1974-75, professor from 1975-86, and emeritus from the university, 1986 on.

In addition, Dr. Carroll was also head of the department of library studies and senior lecturer at Nedlands College of Advanced Education, Western Australian Secondary Teachers College in Perth, Australia, 1977-81.

During her professional career, Dr. Carroll was also a guest lecturer at a number of institutions, including the Drexel Institute of Technology, Philadelphia, in 1964; at the University of London, UK, in 1972; at Pahlavi University of Shiraz, Iran, in 1976; and at Beijing Foreign Studies University, China, in 1992.

Dr. Carroll was the author of many books, including “The Library at Mount Vernon;” “Exciting, Funny, Scary, Short, Different,” and “Sad Books Kids Like;” “Guidelines for the Planning and Organization of School Library Media Centers;” “Guidelines for School Libraries;” “Recent Advances in School Librarianship;” and “Internationalizing Library and Information Science Education: A Handbook of Policies and Procedures in Administration and Curriculum.”

Dr. Carroll also served as an editor on a number of publications, including as the national series editor on Reading for Young People, 1979-1985, and as editor on Biographical Directory of National Librarians; Destination Discovery! Activities and Resources for Studying Columbus and Other Explorers; International Biographical Directory of National Archivists, Documentalists, and Librarians; and her latest book, “International Librarianship,” in 2001. Dr. Carroll also contributed articles to many professional journals, including writing an extensive series of interviews with the IFLA Presidents.

There were many professional organizations that Dr. Carroll was a member of, including Delta Kappa Gamma, Phi Delta Kappa, Beta Phi Mu, the American Association of University Professors, the American Library Association, the Oklahoma Student Library Association (serving as state sponsor, 1963-84), Oklahoma Library Association, International Relations Round Table (Chair, 1970-74), International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) (where she was first Chair of the then sub-section of School Libraries in 1973, and continued until the section was formally established in 1977).

Dr. Carroll’s teaching, research, and work with IFLA took her all over the world, including, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Germany, Mexico, Iran, Australia, Nigeria, Ghana, China, and Iceland. She also attended meetings of librarians in the USA, Canada, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Russia, Argentina and Norway. From the early 1960’s through 2004 Dr. Carroll also participated in most of the annual international IFLA Conferences, held around the globe.

Dr. Carroll had many successes in life. As state sponsor of the Oklahoma Students Librarians Associations, she encouraged the officers, elected from the membership, to lead their organization.

As a writer and editor, three publishers exhibited three different books of hers at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany in the same year, each on a different topic and all treated with an international perspective.

As head of a department, mentioning an idea and having it taken up by students eager to work it out, resulted in their attending a national meeting of the library association in Canberra, Australia. And as a recipient of several of the first Federally-funded grants in the USA for research and continuing education, involving state, national, and international people and incorporating new technology for communication.

According to Dr. Carroll: “Wherever I was for short or long periods of time was home to me, a place to keep clean and pretty. My favorite quote was ‘Beauty is its own excuse for being’ (Emerson).

“The friendships that developed became more important than the personal pleasure of travel wherever I desired and my professional development of an international viewpoint.”

She is survived by her niece, Suzanne Schulte, and her great nephews, Michael and Matthew Schulte.

She is also survived by her friend and colleague Jeffrey M. –Wilhite, as well as many, many other friends and colleagues all around the world.

She was preceded in death by her parents Robert and Truda Carroll and brother, Robert Allen Carroll Jr.

Services will be held 11 a.m. on Tuesday, June 12th at McFarlin Memorial United Methodist Church in Norman with Pastor Cal Brannon officiating.

Interment will be at Wyandotte Cemetery in Wyandotte, Okla.