Erma Jean Loveland
Editor's Note: Elizabeth Crabb, well-known and beloved Texas library activist, died in August of this year. Erma Jean Loveland's interview was conducted in 1994, but Elizabeth requested that the article not be submitted for publication. Elizabeth could not see that it furthered the cause of libraries in Texas. Following her death, however, we have decided to run the article and the accompanying sidebar by Lee Brawner as a testiment to and celebration of Elizabeth's inimitable character and inspiring dedication to libraries.
"My only claim to fame was having lived for seven days with Ernest Hemingway!" was a remark Elizabeth Crabb made to me when, as a member of the Texas Library Association History Committee, I conducted an oral history interview during TLA annual conference in Corpus Christi in April 1994. Elizabeth went on to explain that she and her husband, a U.S. pilot, were sent aboard the USS Constitution to his new assignment at a nuclear submarine base in Spain. The first thing Elizabeth did after boarding ship was to check out the ship's library. There she met the Ernest Hemingway wandering among the stacks. For seven days, the Crabbs enjoyed the companionship of Mary and Ernest Hemingway who were on their way to the bull fights.
An avid reader, Elizabeth knew that she wanted to be a librarian early in her life. After graduation from Canton High School in Van Zandt County, she kept with the tradition of her Grandmother Storrie, a member of the first class at CIA (now TWU) and her mother, Margaret Todd Gray, and became the third generation to attend the then called Texas State College for Women. A master's degree program in librarianship was not available anywhere in Texas at that time. So to start her long career in librarianship, Elizabeth took the four-year TSCW bachelor's degree containing 36 hours of library science courses. Her first job was as assistant librarian at Harris County Library in Houston, in charge of the branches and the bookmobile. She recalled patrons accessing the books in the vehicle by lifting the sides of the bookmobile and making their selections while they were standing on the ground.
After this stint in Houston, Crabb went on to become assistant legislative reference librarian with the Legislative Reference Library (located at that time in the State Library); head of popular library, Dallas Public Library; assistant law librarian, Southern Methodist University; librarian for U.S. Dependent School in Spain; reference librarian for Amarillo Public Library; and coordinator of the Texas Panhandle Library System. With those positions on her resumé, Elizabeth earned her Master's Degree in Library School at University of Texas in Austin and returned to Amarillo Public Library.
In 1976, she was appointed coordinatorof the Northeast Texas Library System (NETLS) where she stayed until her retirement in January 1995. There were 35 member libraries when Crabb went to NETLS; in 1994 there were 75 member libraries. NETLS was located in the Dallas Public Library until 1983 when they moved to Nicholson Memorial Library at Garland. A grant project with state and federal funds from the Texas State Library, the system has a staff of five professional librarians and provides consulting, continuing education, and support services to member libraries.
Crabb said "one of my jobs was to stamp out libraries." When she met with interested library organizers, she was up front about the expense and funding needs of a library, "So they knew exactly what to expect because I didn't want any surprises at all along the way. If they were bound and determined, then we did everything we can do to get them started."
After retiring from NETLS in 1995, she moved to Austin to become an ombudsman to libraries with the State Library, the TLA archivist, as well as a political activist working with Sam Stone, TLA Attorney.
Crabb feels her career was influenced by people like Lillian Bradshaw and Sam Whitten, both librarians at the Dallas Public Library. They were adamant in their service to the public; Sam was an outgoing intellectual freedom buff, and "'Brad' was one of the best readers' guidance persons that I have ever known," Crabb recalled. Sam was to weave in and out of the fabric of her life over the years. He was instrumental in getting her involved with TLA years later when she was in Amarillo. She also recalled the debates in Whitten's public librarianship class when she was working on her master's degree at the University of Texas. Whitten had helped to draft the Library Systems Act and she had worked with the loopholes in carrying the Act out while at the Texas Panhandle Library System. Another member of this class joining in the debate of differing viewpoints was James Stewart, who later became director of the Victoria Public Library and served as TLA president in 1992-93.
Doris Connerly, legislative reference librarian, opened the doors of political activity to Elizabeth. The Legislative Reference Library was located on the second floor of the Capitol Building right across the corridor from the Governor's office. Elizabeth loved being a part of the political scene. Connerly was an attorney, graduating in one of the first UT Austin Law School classes to admit women. The legislators came to get Connerly's assistance in developing bills.
Another important person in Crabb's life was Alice Green, director of the Amarillo Public Library, who encouraged her to get the master's degree in library science. Another noted person Green encouraged was recently retired state librarian, Bill Gooch. "The thing about it is Alice Green only had a bachelor's degree, but she was more important than anybody I know in getting people trained and sending them off to library school," Crabb related. Another of Green's attributes was courage. She had censorship problems that lasted over six continuous years. And in the end, she won! If there had been a SIRS award then, Crabb feels Green would have been a recipient.
Crabb was the first coordinator of the Texas Panhandle Library System. She remembered the library directors were wonderful, "We started the first cooperative collection building and the first resource sharing, and we just had a great time."
Ann Bowden, assistant director of the Austin Public Library, gave Crabb the opportunity to work for APL while she was doing her Master's degree and mothering her two small children. Because Crabb had been a reference librarian for years, she was doing reference workshops for APL branch heads, but her Master's degree program required a basic reference course and nothing would do but that she would take it. "It was real funny; I never did tell Don Davis until I was through with his class."
Jerre Hetherington was the first TLA Executive Director. "I have a Life Membership card, signed by Jerre Hetherington," Crabb proudly admitted. "Jerre was marvelous, dedicated her life to TLA; but she was authoritarian." The year Crabb was TLA President, she recalled a meeting with Hetherington where "we laid the ground rules. Jerre would run it if you would let her; but if you were bound and determined to run it yourself, she would step back and let you do it."
When Hetherington retired, Crabb was on the committee that selected Ada Howard as Executive Director and after Howard she helped lure Pat Smith away from the Texas State Library. Crabb predicted qualified younger librarians, like Cathy Ensign, Steve Brown, and Barbara Gubbin will continue to press forward with ways to make information available to all people.
One of Elizabeth's roles with TLA was working with Ray Janeway from Lubbock on the first Scholarship Committee. In the early 70s, she served on the Library Development Committee, with a charge to set the long term goals for TLA. But the role dearest to her heart has been with the Friends and Trustees Round Table. She was chair of the first ad hoc committee for Friends and Trustees to help them get started. Crabb fondly recalled the encouragement from James and May Love from Lufkin, lay persons who were important in keeping the Friends organization going in the lean years.
Elizabeth Crabb served as 1982-83 TLA President when the annual conference was held in San Antonio. Using the elegant presidential suite at the Hilton-on-the-River, Elizabeth decided to open the TLA President's Party to all conference attendees. "No invitations had to be extended because everybody was invited. That was the best thing I did all my year! And since then, the President's Party has been open to everybody." Geraldine LeFevre from San Antonio was local arrangements chair and Mary Lankford of the Irving Schools was the program chair with, in Elizabeth's words, "great, great ideas." Then at the opening of annual assembly, the summer before conference, Crabb totally lost her voice. Everyone was sympathetic and wanted to take over the microphone for her. Crabb said, "'No, this is my presidential year, I'm going to run this thing!' I couldn't talk above a whisper, and I would apologize. 'I feel sorry for you poor folks, so just shut up and listen to me!'"
The major political issue in 1983 was a proposal to change the Library Systems Act to allow the large public libraries more power in system affairs. Negotiations filled the council meetings, and at last, it was agreed that the votes in the systems would be weighed based on the populations served by the libraries. "That satisfied the large libraries and yet it did not take away the strength of the smaller libraries, especially if they wanted to combine their votes."
And with those words, Elizabeth gives a charge to all librarians to be--or become--politically astute, to know the school board, the city council, the coordinating board, and those people who give money. "I think the most important thing that TLA is doing is generating cooperation among libraries. And the second most important thing that it is doing is making librarians, library staffs, and lay people more politically aware because the sooner we learn that our money comes through politics, no matter whether you are a school librarian, an academic librarian, or a public librarian, your money comes through governmental agencies. If you are not politically astute, somebody is going to steal your d--- money from you and use it."
Texas librarians might well take issue with Elizabeth Crabb's statement that her only claim to fame was cruising with Ernest Hemingway. Many a library council, patron, as well as fellow librarians, insist her main claim to fame is her devotion and service to the Texas library world.
Erma Jean Loveland is special services librarian, Brown University, Abilene Christian University, and co-chair of the History of TLA Committee.
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Last Modified: 3/25/1997