From Berkeleyside
Remembering James Henry Jacobs Jr., Berkeley’s first African American librarian
By Hannah Aguero
James Henry Jacobs Jr. passed away in San Francisco peacefully surrounded by music on May 24, four days before his 93rd birthday.
Known as Jim, he was born on May 28, 1930, in Flushing, Michigan, to James Henry Jacobs Sr. and Alice Serene Rhue Jacobs, second born of eight children. In the early 1930s his family moved from Flushing to Sandwich West, Canada. His early education began in a humble one-room schoolhouse. His family then moved to Windsor, Ontario, and he attended Victoria Elementary School. In 1939 his family moved to Ypsilanti, Michigan, where he attended Harriet Street Grammar School. He worked on the family farm, had various summer jobs, and learned an appreciation for music, literature and language from his parents. He went to Ypsilanti High School and was later inducted into the Ypsilanti High School Hall of Fame for being a catalyst, along with his brothers, to the school’s “Glory Years” in football. After graduating in 1949, he continued working for Michigan Union Cafeteria and then the Ford generator plant...
In 1958 he completed his undergraduate in Japanese Studies at UC Berkeley after transferring from UC Los Angeles. He continued his studies at UC Berkeley, being the only African American in his Masters of Library Science program and became Berkeley Public Library’s first African American librarian in 1960.
During the 1960s he pioneered the effort to desegregate the Berkeley Public Library’s collections, began the Summer Reading Program, and supported gender and cultural representation by featuring books with minority protagonists. One of the books he featured during storytime that became so popular he could never keep on the shelves was Liza Lou and the Yeller Belly Swamp by Mercer Meyer. In addition, he would use songs to teach literacy and had a particular interest in the storytelling magic of folk music. He dedicated 30 years of service to the community with excellence, care and compassion for all learners and interests before retiring in 1990. In October 2021, he received a City of Berkeley Proclamation signed by the Mayor honoring him for his service and impact on so many generations of Berkeleyans...
James Henry Jacobs Jr. was an alumnus of the School of Librarianship, a predecessor to the School of Information. He served as a librarian at Berkeley Public Library, where he began the Summer Reading Program in hopes of desegregating the library's collections.
