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April 29, 2004
For More Information, Contact:
Daryl Savage at (650) 688-6384
SACRAMENTO – The Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance honored retiring State Librarian Kevin Starr yesterday with a resolution detailing his decade of service to the people of California.
“We’ve have been fortunate to have someone of his caliber provide leadership on library and literacy issues at the State level,” said Assemblyman Joe Simitian, Chair of the Subcommittee. “He has been much more than our State’s Librarian—he’s been an eloquent advocate for library and literacy issues.”
A native of San Francisco, Starr distinguished himself as the premier scholar of California history. His six-volume series, which began as a doctoral thesis, is the definitive narrative of California. His most recent work, Coast of Dreams: California on the Edge, 1990-2002, is in press.
When reflecting on the role of libraries in society, Starr has said, “Libraries provide the capital necessary for us to understand the past and plan for the future. Free public library service is the basis of our democracy and will keep us a free nation.”
Dr. Starr graduated from the University of San Francisco in 1962. He served as a lieutenant in a tank battalion in Germany. He received a PhD in American Literature from Harvard University and also holds the Master of Library Science degree from UC Berkeley. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Gold Medal of the Commonwealth Club of California, and is a member of the Society of American Historians.
Dr. Starr will become State Librarian Emeritus. He will teach full-time at the University of Southern California’s Department of History as well as work on several books.