Roscoe Rouse
June 21, 2014
Roscoe Rouse, Jr. 94, passed away June 21, 2014. He was born in Valdosta, GA, in 1919. Roscoe entered the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1941 and later entered the Air Corps officer flight training school and was sent to East Central State College at Ada where he met Charlie Lou Miller, who would later become his wife. They were married for 68 years until she predeceased him in 2013. In 1943, he received his wings and was made a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force where he was trained to fly B-17s. He completed a total of 33 missions over Germany in WWII and was shot down twice. In 1948, Roscoe earned a B.A. degree in Library Science from the University of Oklahoma, an M.A. in English Literature from OU in 1952, an M.A. in Information Services at the University of Michigan in 1958, and a Ph.D. at Michigan in 1962. In 1948, he became the assistant librarian at Northeastern State College in Tahlequah, OK, where he later became the acting librarian and an instructor of library science. He later moved to Baylor University where he served as university librarian as well as chair of the Department of Library Science. He also served as director of libraries at the University of New York at Stony Brook, Long Island. In 1967, he became dean of Library Services at Oklahoma State University and served in that position for 20 years. During this time, the Library increased significantly in size as did the Library’s collection. He was active in the International Federation of Library Associations, was elected to the Council of the American Library Association four times, and was president of the Oklahoma Library Association and an early editor of the Oklahoma Librarian. He received numerous awards from the OLA and was active in a number of other library organizations and associations. In addition, he served as president of the Payne County Retired Educators’ Association and of the OSU Emeriti Association. Roscoe was the author of numerous articles, papers, and reviews as well as two books, one of which was A History of the Oklahoma State University Library. Roscoe was also active in the Stillwater Rotary Club and his church. He is survived by two children and two grandchildren.