Lawrence Quincy Mumford

Lawrence Quincy Mumford (* December 11, 1903 at Ayden, Pitt County, North Carolina; † August 15, 1982 in Washington, DC) was an American librarian. He led for 20 years, the Library of Congress.

Lawrence Mumford grew up on a tobacco farm in North Carolina. He studied first at Duke University, and later at Columbia University. There he made in 1929 with a degree in library science. He then worked for 16 years in the New York Public Library. In 1945 he moved to the Cleveland Public Library and in 1950 was its director. From 1954-55 he was president of the American Library Association. In April 1954 he was nominated by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower for the post of Librarian of Congress and confirmed by the Senate on July 24. He was the first trained librarian in this position, which he held until his retirement on 31 December 1974.

Mumford had negotiating skills and had good relations with the congressman. During his tenure, the annual budget of the library tenfold to over $ 96 million, the number of employees rose from 1,564 to 4,250 and the Media portfolio grew from 33 million to 74 million. 1965 his proposed construction of the James Madison Memorial Building was approved, but construction began only in 1971.