L. Zenobia Coleman
Louie Zenobia Coleman (January 21, 1898 – May 3, 1999) was an American librarian who spent most of her career at Tougaloo College in Mississippi. She encouraged Black people to become librarians and received an honorary lifelong membership from the American Library Association. The L. Zenobia Coleman Library at Tougaloo College is named for her.
Coleman was born in Childersburg, Alabama, to farming and homemaking parents. She earned a BA in Education from Talladega College in 1921 and studied education at the University of Chicago in 1925, 1926, and 1929.
She began her career as a librarian and teacher at Brick Junior College (later Franklinton Center) in Brick, North Carolina, from 1924 to 1932. She later earned a BS in Library Science from Columbia University in 1936 and a Master’s in Library Science in 1943.
In 1933 she became the librarian at Tougaloo College and worked there for 36 years. She faced racism under Jim Crow laws but pressed on to improve opportunities for Black librarians and to strengthen library services at Tougaloo and beyond.
She helped catalog at Alabama State College, taught at Southern University in Baton Rouge, and was a visiting librarian at North Carolina College for Negroes. She published articles in library and education journals and joined many library associations.
Coleman founded the local chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha and, in July 1973, was named a Continuing Member for life of the American Library Association.
A library at Tougaloo built in 1948 was later replaced and named for Coleman. She started an endowment fund, and after retiring she remained in Tougaloo. She died on May 3, 1999.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:28 (CET).