This work records the accomplishments of the leaders of library science with 51 thoroughly researched biographies of individuals whose contributions have profoundly influenced the profession's history. The biographical sketches, ranging in length from 1,400 to 4,000 words, were researched, written, and reviewed by noted authorities in the library and information science community.

WAYNE A. WIEGAND is Associate Professor in the School of Library and Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the widely acclaimed author of scores of articles and books on the library profession including Politics of an Emerging Profession: The American Library Association, 1876-1917 (Greenwood, 1986), which won the 1986 G.K. Hall Award for Outstanding Contribution to Library Literature. He is currently working on a biography of Melvil Dewey.