A memorial service today will honor E.J. Josey, the first black president of the American Library Association and professor emeritus of the University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences.

The service will be at 3 p.m. today at Heinz Chapel on the Pitt campus.

Dr. Josey, who was instrumental in integrating the library work force, died July 3 in Washington, D.C., at the age of 84.

At the 1964 annual conference of the American Library Association, Mr. Josey, formerly of Shadyside, wrote a resolution prohibiting association officers and staff from participating in state associations that refused to admit black librarians.

It resulted in the integration of library associations of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.

In 1984, Mr. Josey was elected president of the ALA. In 1986, he joined the library faculty at the University of Pittsburgh where he worked in the School of Library and Information Science until his retirement in 1995.

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