While perusing the list of notable people within the field of library studies, I came across Judith Krug. I felt that it was serendipitous that I picked out her name as my librarians and I were eagerly discussing plans for Banned Book Week. This American Library Association (ALA) campaign is widely looked forward to not just by myself, but by library teams across the country. It’s only fitting to honor her by researching her accomplishments and continuing her life’s work in preserving intellectual freedom and free speech.
Judith Krug (nee Fingeret) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 15, 1940. In an interview she stated that one of her first experiences with intellectual freedom and censorship was when she was 12. Judith was caught reading a sex education book under the covers one night; her Mother simply said “For God’s sake, turn on your bedroom light so you don’t hurt your eyes”. Given that this was a book intended for educational purposes, but at the age 12 assumed it was prohibited, she credits her parents with her passion for first amendment rights and opposition to censorship, especially when it comes to educational materials. …show more content…
She continued her education at the University of Chicago and received her Master’s in Library Science. Her senior thesis project was on comparing different literary encoding methods to retrieve information, A Comparison of the Uniterm, Descriptor, and Role-Indicator Methods of Encoding Literature for Information Retrieval. Judith stayed in Chicago as a librarian until she went on to Northwestern as the head cataloger. Three years after graduating with her Master’s degree, she was hired for her first job within the American Library Association as a research
Judith Krug (nee Fingeret) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 15, 1940. In an interview she stated that one of her first experiences with intellectual freedom and censorship was when she was 12. Judith was caught reading a sex education book under the covers one night; her Mother simply said “For God’s sake, turn on your bedroom light so you don’t hurt your eyes”. Given that this was a book intended for educational purposes, but at the age 12 assumed it was prohibited, she credits her parents with her passion for first amendment rights and opposition to censorship, especially when it comes to educational materials. …show more content…
She continued her education at the University of Chicago and received her Master’s in Library Science. Her senior thesis project was on comparing different literary encoding methods to retrieve information, A Comparison of the Uniterm, Descriptor, and Role-Indicator Methods of Encoding Literature for Information Retrieval. Judith stayed in Chicago as a librarian until she went on to Northwestern as the head cataloger. Three years after graduating with her Master’s degree, she was hired for her first job within the American Library Association as a research