Betty J. Turock

Betty J. Turock is an American librarian and educator who served as president of the American Library Association from 1995 to 1996. She was a member of the faculty of the Rutgers School of Communication and Information for 22 years.

A child during the Great Depression, she was raised by her aunt and uncle Ruth (Sweetser) and David Argust, Jr. who had no children of their own at that time. A surveyor, then mining engineer for the Hudson Coal Company, David was employed throughout the years of the historic economic downturn.

Career

As the wife of a corporate nomad employed by AT&T’s Western Electric, Turock learned that time spent as a family in any local was indefinite. She began her career during her short-lived time in Raritan Township, NJ where she served on the initial Library Board of Trustees and was Chairman of the Education and Community Affairs Committee of the Woman’s Club where she started a scholarship program for high school students who aspired to go to college. In 1966, Turock was honored with the “Woman of the Year” award by the Woman’s Club for her leading voice representing women on Raritan Township Board of Education, raising scholarship funds, implementing new policies, and for creating a better relationship between the board and the general public.

Turock’s husband was then relocated to Winston-Salem, North Carolina where she became the Head Librarian for the East Winston and Kernersville branches of the Forsyth County system headquarters in Winston Salem. Because of its history few people used East Winston. She enlisted members of the Black Panthers to help bring the library back in touch with its community. In a 2017 speech to ALA’s Leadership Academy she amplified that message by remarking:

It was in East Winston I learned that even when we can’t predict the consequences, we must mix the library with the soul of the community to supply new directions in services desperately needed by emerging majority populations.

Turock held a number of managerial positions in school, public and academic libraries, including serving as Director of the Montclair Public Library, where she worked to "make the library an activist community center" and as Assistant Director of the Rochester and Monroe County New York Library System. She was appointed as Senior Advisor in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

During Turock’s time as president of the American Library Association she worked closely with Senator Paul Simon (ALA Honorary Member, 1996) and Jeanne Hurley Simon, chair of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (ALA Honorary Member, 2000) on the legislative policies that created the Institute of Museums and Library Services (1996). She oversaw implementation of the American Library Association’s Office for Information Technology Policy with Elizabeth Martinez (Executive Director of ALA (1996).

Hayden’s Executive Board voted affirmatively. At the 2009 ALA Conference, ALA President Camila Alire (2009-2010), Immediate Past President, Jim Rettig,(2008-2009) and President-Elect Roberta Stevens (2010-2011) announced the Spectrum Presidential Initiative to raise another $1 million to ensure continued funding for the Spectrum Scholars and the Endowment that supported them. Turock chaired this campaign also, which exceeded its goal and raised $1.23 million. Annually the Turock Family Foundation funds one Spectrum Scholarship.

Selected publications Turock, Betty. (2024). "At a Crossroads." American Libraries 55 (1/2): 6. Turock, Betty J. (2003). "Diversity: A Necessity." Library Journal 128 (20): 10. Turock, Betty J. (2001). "Women and Leadership." Journal of Library Administration 32 (3/4): 111–32. Turock, Betty J. (1996). "Diversity Reclaimed." American Libraries 27 (March): 25. Turock, Betty J. (1996). Envisioning a Nation Connected : Librarians Define the Public Interest in the Information Superhighway. Chicago: American Library Association. Turock, Betty J, and Carol C Henderson. (1996) "A Model for a New Approach to Federal Government Information Access and Dissemination." Journal of Government Information an International Review of Policy, Issues and Resources. 23, no. 3: 227–40. Turock, Betty J. and United States Office of Educational Research and Improvement. (1990). Library Programs: Evaluating Federally Funded Public Library Programs. Washington D.C: Office of Educational Research and Improvement U.S. Dept. of Education Turock, Betty J. (1987). "Public Library Service for Older Adults: Update 1984." Library Quarterly 57 (April): 137–70. Turock, Betty J.(1986) The Public Library in the Bibliographic Network.1986; 2021. New York: Haworth. Turock, Betty J. (1982). Serving the Older Adult: A Guide to Library Programs and Information Sources. New York: Bowker. Turock Betty J (1981) Public Library Services for Aging in the Eighties : A 1981 White House Conference on Aging Background Paper. New Brunswick N.J: Rutgers University Graduate School of Library and Information Studies.

Awards and honors In 2017, Keystone College renamed their School of Arts and Sciences to the Turock School of Arts and Sciences in honor of Betty Turock, her son David L. Turock, and her late husband, Frank M. Turock to recognize their decades of support. The family received Keystone's Presidential Medallion in 2000. In 2000, ALA honored her an Extraordinary Library Advocates of the Twentieth Century. New Jersey Library Association Lifetime Achievement Award (2025)