Librarian Bruce Vogel Dies at 72
By SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 6/11/2007
Bruce Vogel, who spent 25 years as a children’s services coordinator at Alameda County (CA) Library, died on April 26. He was 72.
A contributor to School Library Journal, Vogel grew up in Bakersfield, CA, where he graduated from high school in 1952. He received his master's degree in library and information service at UCLA in 1967.
Vogel was well known throughout California libraries for his storytelling and for the elaborately staged plays he wrote and produced in his puppet theater. Over the years, thousands of children flocked to see his productions.
During the 1970s, Vogel headed a committee to revise the standards of service to children in California's public libraries. Two decades ago, he conceived of and designed “The Bookleggers,” a program that recruits and trains volunteers who visit elementary school classrooms in Fremont, CA. Since then, the program has inspired a large number of children to become enthusiastic and independent readers.
Vogel also taught courses in children's literature and storytelling in a number of colleges, including San Jose State University and Brigham Young University. Vogel wrote a cute skit on weeding for SLJ in September 1992 called “The Adventures of Molly Keeper: A Cautionary Tale” and contributed to a collection of scholarly essays.
