author
David H. Stam
b. 1935
A lifelong librarian and library historian, he led major research libraries while writing warmly about books, scholarship, and the cultural life built around them. His memoir brings together decades of experience in institutions where reading, research, and the arts met every day.
1 Audiobook
Turgenev in English: A Checklist of Works by and about Him
by Rissa Yachnin, David H. Stam
About the author
Born in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1935, David H. Stam built a long career in research and academic libraries. Sources from the University of Pennsylvania and the Library of Congress describe him as a librarian, editor, and scholar who earned a B.A. in English from Wheaton College, an M.L.S. from Rutgers University, and a Ph.D. in history from Northwestern University.
Over roughly four decades, he worked at several major institutions, including the New York Public Library, the Newberry Library, Johns Hopkins University, and Syracuse University. Memorial and biographical pages from Syracuse University and the Association of Research Libraries note that he later became University Librarian Emeritus at Syracuse and had also served as the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries of The New York Public Library.
He also wrote and edited work on library history and polar exploration. Syracuse University credits him with editing the two-volume International Dictionary of Library Histories, while the Library of Congress and book listings describe his memoir, What Happened to Me: My Life with Books, Research Libraries, and Performing Arts, as a reflection on a career shaped by libraries, scholarship, and the arts.