William S. Dix

William Shepherd Dix (November 19, 1910 – February 23, 1978) was a scholar and librarian who had a 22-year career as Librarian at Princeton University in New Jersey, without a degree in library science. His contributions to the field of librarianship, however, are varied and notable, making him worthy of recognition in the American Libraries' 100 most important figures.

Education and early career Dix received his bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia in 1931 and his M.A. in English from that same university a year later. He began his career at the Darlington School for Boys in Georgia, where he taught English for seven years. He taught at several other schools, eventually landing at Harvard University, where he taught for a year while finishing his doctorate in American literature at the University of Chicago.

In 1947, Dix became an English instructor at the Rice Institute (which is now Rice University) in Houston, Texas. A year later, he accepted the additional responsibilities of directing the school's library. By the time he left Rice in 1953 to head the library at Princeton University, Dix was an associate professor of English and librarian.

IFC From 1951 to 1953, Dix was chairman of the Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC), a committee within the American Library Association (ALA) whose purpose was, and continues to be, to protect the rights of people who use libraries. While he was chairman, there was a debate among professionals in the field of librarianship about whether to censor materials that were deemed to promote communism, or that were anything but anti-communism. A sizeable number or people, led by Ralph Ulveling, felt that materials that were anything but anti-communism should be labeled, so that people were aware of their contents. Others felt that the labeling of materials was, in a way, censoring them. The IFC, with Dix as chairman, agreed with the latter group and decided that library users should have a choice as to what they read. Library collections should offer a variety of perspectives (whether they are pro or anti-communism) and allow patrons to decide what they thought about it.

The Freedom to Read Shortly after this decision, to assuage the fears librarians across the country still felt, Dix and IFC Executive Secretary Paul Bixler began planning a conference to formulate a statement that later became known as The Freedom to Read. This statement, of which Dix was the principal author, was adopted by the ALA and the American Book Publishers Council (now known as the Association of American Publishers) on June 25, 1953, This statement was subsequently endorsed by twenty-one other organizations, including the Freedom to Read Foundation and the National Coalition Against Censorship.

President of the ALA During Dix's time as president of the ALA, there was a lot of controversy on the direction that the ALA should take. According to Raber, people wanted more member participation and they wanted the ALA to take stands on social issues (particularly against the Vietnam War). From these requests came the resolution establishing the Activities Committee on New Directions for the ALA (ACONDA), which was passed on June 25, 1969, with the support of Dix. This committee, whose members consist of ALA leadership and general members, studies issues and recommends changes for the direction of the new ALA. The final report of ACONDA, finished in 1970, resulted in a chaotic debate. Ultimately, ACONDA resulted in relatively minor changes within the ALA structure, and by 1972 it was back to business as usual.