Stuart Forth, dean emeritus of Penn State University Libraries, died July 31, in Manistee, Michigan. He was 86. He was born August 13, 1923, in Manistee and married Pearl Brown in San Francisco on December 24, 1951. Forth was a veteran of World War II, serving with the U.S. Army Air Corps in the Pacific.
Forth accepted the newly created position of dean of University Libraries in 1973, coming to Penn State from the University of Kentucky (1965-1973), where he had been director of libraries and professor of library science. Penn State President Bryce Jordan credited Forth with building a national reputation for the Penn State Libraries, and said, “Under Dean Forth’s direction, Penn State’s Libraries have taken a major step toward meeting the present and future needs of students and researchers through the increasing computerization of the Libraries’ holdings. He has also assembled a fine organization of librarians with national reputations.” Upon his retirement from Penn State, the Library Development Advisory Board, friends and donors established the Stuart Forth Libraries Endowment in 1989.
In 1981, Penn State’s Library Information Access System (LIAS) began providing computerized access to the Libraries resources. Forth was equally proud of the sophisticated collections his colleagues developed to serve the research and teaching needs of the University, and he said, “They have done an outstanding job and their knowledge of the needs of the collegiate faculty is rare among academic libraries.” He also pointed to his success leading the Libraries' fund-raising efforts that he believed “set a clear example for other public university libraries.” He specifically credited Coach Joe Paterno and his wife Sue for their assistance in raising funds for the Libraries’ addition that now bears the Paterno family name.
Forth served as a library administrator for nearly 35 years and was a scholar-librarian with an interest in American history and architecture, and English literature. He received a bachelor of arts degree in English literature and history and a master of arts degree in liberal studies, both from the University of Michigan, in 1949 and 1950 respectively, a doctorate in American history from the University of Washington in 1963.
Surviving are his wife Pearl and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
Gifts in memory of Forth can be directed to the Manistee County Public Library, 95 Maple St., Manistee, MI 49660.