His mother is credited with having high expectations for him, and for correctly presuming that he would attend the prestigious Boston Latin secondary school.

[7] Curley was known to be politically astute, and was tremendously concerned with how the function of the library as an institution was viewed by the public.

Although he understood the important role of providing information, he was emphatic that libraries needed to be seen first and foremost as "humanistic institutions".

Imploring his peers in 1994 at a symposium at Rutgers School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies he said, "We need to be people for whom this is one more technological development, like the telephone or the electric typewriter, which we view with optimism because it will help us to do our jobs".

[11] However, he was particularly concerned with how this new technology and new forms of media could further divide populations based on class and other social factors depending on the relative levels of access.

Rather than merely promoting best practices "for Curley, LAN represented the first step of a grassroots effort of the ALA's 'awaking to activism'".