Herbert N. Foerstel (October 6, 1933 – September 20, 2024) was an American librarian and author known for his support of library privacy rights and his research into book banning.

[1][2] His parents divorced when he was young and his mother remarried John Boe a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman.

The family moved frequently and Foerstel grew up in Indianapolis, Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago and Long Island.

He was a member of board of directors of the National Security Archive at George Washington University and the and the Freedom to Read Foundation.

Foerstel had met with FBI agents who visited UMD libraries looking for book-lending records of patrons with "Eastern European or Russian-sounding names.

[8] Foerstal married Lenora Shargo, an art professor who he met while they were carpooling from their shared apartment building to Towson.