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Previous decade: 1940s

1950s

1950 - Ruth Brown dismissed from her position at the Bartlesville Public Library

1950 - Library of Congress abandons binding and storing many recent newspapers

1951- Rachel Schenk became director of the Wisconsin Library School. The School began the move to offer the master's degree, rather than the 5th year bachelor's.

1953- USIA is established by President Eisenhower and overseas USIS Libraries fall under its jurisdiction

1953 - Overseas Library Program investigated by Senate Permanent Investigations Subcommittee

1953 - The American Library Association and the American Book Publishers Council wrote and published The Statement on the Freedom to Read, which the NY Times called "One of our great state documents."

1954 - Although the Wisconsin Library School had been accredited since the beginning (1924-25), this was the first year the master's degree was accredited. (Librarianship moved to the master's degree as the professional degree in the 1950s.)

1956 - Movie Storm Center starring Betty Davis, loosely based on the events surrounding the dismissal of Ruth Brown, was released

1959 - Marjorie Fiske's famous Book Selection and Censorship in California was published. This study documented the effect that fear can have on self-censorship. This study is a classic.

Next decade: 1960s