Dates

• Existence: 1906 - 2004

Biography

Louane Leech Newsome, a librarian, was born in Orange, California, in 1906, and graduated from Orange High School. In 1938, she married Ellis Henry Newsome. Louane "Jerry" Newsome was an armed services librarian during World War II. She took a leave of absence from her position as director of the Petaluma Public Library in Petaluma, California, to be the army librarian at Camp Lockett in Campo, California, near the Mexican border. After she left Camp Lockett, Newsome became a navy librarian and remained as an armed services librarian for three years. Newsome and her husband moved to Iowa City in 1950 when he joined the University of Iowa journalism faculty. She served twenty years as professor in the University of Iowa's School of Library and Information Science. A lifelong member of the Iowa Libraries Association, Newsome served as president for the 1941/42 year. Newsome also served on the ALA Newbery and Caldecot Committee in 1965. She served on the Iowa City Board of Public Library Trustees from 1973 to 1979.

Newsome was an active member of the community. She served as chairperson of the Mercy Hospital Foundation Board and worked as a guide at the Old Capitol for nine years. She was also involved with the Iowa City Community Theater, was on the speakers bureau of the Iowa City Hospice, and was a storyteller. In 1994, the Iowa City/Johnson County Senior Center honored Newsome as a "Woman of Distinction." Louane Newsome passed away at the age of 97 in 2004.

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