From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
Negro Library Conference
The 1st Negro Library Conference was founded by Thomas Fountain Blue, head of the Negro Department of the Louisville Free Public Library. The conference was held in the Museum of Hampton Institute [now Hampton University], March 15-18, 1927. Thomas Fountain Blue was a graduate of Hampton Institute, and the Hampton Library School was a continuation of the Negro library training program that was established at the Louisville Free Public Library from 1912-1931. The Negro Library Conference was a result of the continued work between the Thomas Fountain Blue and the Hampton Library School director, Florence Curtis. The Carnegie Corporation financed the conference that was attended by 25 librarians from the South. The 2nd Negro Library Conference was held at Fisk University, November 20-23, 1930. The conference was held in conjunction with the dedication of the new library at Fisk. The conference was organized by conference committee members Louis S. Shores, Tommie D. Barker, Thomas Fountain Blue, Florence Curtis, Ernestine Rose, Charlotte Templeton, and Edward Christopher Williams who died prior to the conference. The committee members voted to have the Negro Library Conference become a sectional meeting of the American Library Association and Thomas Fountain Blue was named chair of the committee. The Negro Library Conference would never be affiliated with the American Library Association and the second conference was the last meeting. For more see Library Service to African Americans in Kentucky by R. F. Jones; Thomas Fountain Blue (theses) by L. T. Wright; Handbook of Black Librarianship by E. J. Josey and A. A. Shockley; and Negro Library Conference by Fisk University.
