 Sad news. Former ODL Director Bob Clark died on May 26. He had been suffering from Post Polio Syndrome for the past several years, but his wife Audrey says he remained active despite his physical difficulties. In fact, he remained active until five days before his death.
Below is the brief paragraph we shared with the national library press, which has very limited space for such announcements. If we had had room, we would have also mentioned that he was instrumental in establishing the Oklahoma Center for the Book, the fourth such center established under the Library of Congress program. It's always good when Oklahoma is not at the bottom of a list.
There will be no public memorial, although the family will hold a private one when they can all get together. Memorial donations may be made to:
ACLU of Oklahoma
3000 Paseo
Oklahoma City, OK 73103
https://www.acluok.org/
If you have memories of Bob you would like to share with his family, I will be happy to get a message to them. You may e-mail me at Bill.Young@libraries.ok.gov
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Robert L. Clark, 72, director of the Oklahoma Department of
Libraries (ODL) from 1976 until his retirement in 2000, died May 26. During his tenure as State Librarian he
headed two Governor’s Conferences on libraries and led a strategic planning
process that redefined Oklahoma’s state library and its role in the information
age. He championed preservation programs, government openness laws, and library
and information services for institutional populations. A staunch supporter of Intellectual Freedom,
he and the agency made news in 1997 when a federal judge granted ODL intervener
plaintiff status in the strange obscenity case of the Academy Award winning film
“The Tin Drum.” When an Oklahoma County judge ruled the film contained
obscenity, VHS copies of the movie were confiscated from the Metropolitan
Library System and area video rental stores. The Video Software Dealers
Association (VSDA) sued and ODL was granted standing in representing access and
censorship concerns on the local level. The VSDA prevailed in the case and the film
was ultimately returned to library and store shelves. Clark received the
Oklahoma Library Legend Award from the Oklahoma Library Association in 2007.
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