Lucile Nix

{{Short description|American librarian (1903–1968)}} {{Infobox person | name = Lucile Nix | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1903|03|04}} | birth_place = [[Commerce, Georgia]], United States | death_date = {{death date and age|1968|12|01|1903|03|03}} | other_names = | known_for = | parents = | occupation = Librarian | alma_mater = [[Furman University]] (BA, 1925)<br/>[[Emory University]] (BA, 1930, library science) }}

'''Lucile Nix''' (March 4, 1903 – December 1, 1968)<ref name="lippincott"/> was an American librarian.<ref name="ga-lib-1989">{{cite news |last1=Fennell |first1=Janice C. |title=The Georgia Librarian: A Twenty-Five Year Perspective |url=http://www.libsci.sc.edu/histories/georgia/statehistory/GA_Librarian_25_Years.pdf |work=[[The Georgia Librarian]] |issue=Spring 1989 |pages=21–22}}</ref> She was Georgia's head of public library services for 23 years.

==Career== Nix was born on March 4, 1903, in [[Commerce, Georgia|Commerce]], Georgia to John Morgan and Ella Ludora Bennett Nix. Her father was a grocer and her mother had a passion for reading.<ref name="miller">{{cite book |author=Miller, Marilyn L. | title=Pioneers and Leaders in Library Services to Youth: A Biographical Dictionary |chapter=Nix, Lucile (1903-1968) |pages=179–181 |location=Westport, Connecticut | publisher=Libraries Unlimited | year=2003| oclc=491673635 |isbn=9781591580287 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMH7RkYRh0gC&pg=PA179 |via=[[Google Books]] |accessdate=23 July 2019}}</ref> She attended [[Furman University]] followed by [[Emory University]], where in 1930<ref name="tlq-carmichael">{{cite journal |last1=Carmichael Jr. |first1=James V. |title=Women in Southern Library Education, 1905-1945 |journal=The Library Quarterly |date=April 1992 |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=169–216 |doi=10.1086/602443 |jstor=4308688 |s2cid=142556623 |url=http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/J_Carmichael_Women_1992.pdf }}</ref> she earned a degree in library science.<ref name="atl-const-1958">{{cite news |title=Miss Lucile Nix Heads Dixie Librarians |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23396813/lucile_nix_head_of_se_reg_library_assn/ |accessdate=23 July 2019 |work=The Atlanta Constitution |date=27 Oct 1958}}</ref> While in school Nix attended summer programs at [[Columbia University]] and the [[University of Chicago]].<ref name="lippincott">{{cite web |title=Joseph W. Lippincott Award Application - Lucile Nix |url=https://alair.ala.org/bitstream/handle/11213/810/LippincottAward_LucileNix.pdf |accessdate=23 July 2019 |date=1968}}</ref>

During the first years of her career, Nix worked at libraries in [[Winston-Salem]], [[North Carolina]] and [[Knoxville]], [[Tennessee]], as well as at Emory. Her first job as a librarian was at [[Richard J. Reynolds High School|Reynolds High School]] in Winston-Salem.<ref name="lippincott"/> Later, while in Tennessee and serving as president of the [[Tennessee Library Association]], Nix was influential in convincing the [[Tennessee legislature]] to pass its first bill intended to provide state aid for regional libraries.

In 1945 she returned to Georgia. At the time, 33% of Georgia's population had no library access—after her decades-long service with Georgia's libraries, by 1968 the percentage had fallen to just 1.5%.<ref name="lippincott"/>

Nix was elected president of the [[Southeastern Library Association]] in 1958, and continued her involvement with the organization throughout the 1960s.<ref name="sela-hist">{{cite web |title=The Federal Period-The 1960s |url=http://www.selaonline.org/sela/history/1960.html |publisher=Southeastern Library Association |accessdate=23 July 2019}}</ref> She was also a trustee of the Georgia Library Trustees and Friends Association from 1949 to 1951.<ref name="glah">{{cite web |title=Georgia Library Association Handbook: Appendix 2: Past Officers |url=https://gla.georgialibraries.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/exec_members_pastboardmembers.pdf |accessdate=23 July 2019}}</ref> In 1963, Georgia governor [[Carl Sanders]] named her a member of the [[Georgia Commission on Aging]]. Nix served as president of the [[Atlanta Library Club]], and in 1968 she was awarded the [[Joseph W. Lippincott Award]].<ref name="lippincott"/>

==Legacy== After her death, the Nix–Jones Award for Distinction in Library Service was co-named in her honor.<ref name="ga-lib-1989"/> She never married and had no children.<ref name="gt-hall-lib-2017"/>

On March 9, 2017, Nix was inducted into the [[Georgia Women of Achievement]] Hall of Fame at a ceremony at [[Wesleyan College]] in [[Macon, Georgia|Macon]]. She was nominated by the [[Northeast Georgia Historical and Genealogical Society]], the [[Georgia Library Association]], and the [[Hall County, Georgia|Hall County]] Library System.<ref name="gt-hall-lib-2017">{{cite web |last1=Van Parys |first1=Hailey |title=Hall library pioneer Lucile Nix inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement Hall of Fame |url=https://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/hall-library-pioneer-lucile-nix-inducted-into-georgia-women-of-achievement-hall-of-fame/ |publisher=The Gainesville Times |accessdate=23 July 2019 |date=March 11, 2017}}</ref> Even during her lifetime Nix was known as "Miss Public Library."<ref name="lippincott"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nix, Lucile}} [[Category:1903 births]] [[Category:1968 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American librarians]] [[Category:20th-century American women librarians]] [[Category:People from Commerce, Georgia]] [[Category:Furman University alumni]] [[Category:Emory University alumni]] [[Category:20th-century American educators]] [[Category:20th-century American women educators]]