Mary R. Somerville is an American librarian who served as president of the American Library Association from 1996 to 1997; she is best known for her advocacy for children's literacy and work as a library administrator.
[1] Somerville served as the director of the Miami-Dade Public Library System from 1994 until her retirement in 1998.
[3] Somerville served as the president of the Association for Library Service to Children from 1987 to 1988.
[1] During that time she participated in a Soviet-American symposium on public library services to children within the Soviet Union.
[5][6] An important initiative of Somerville's presidency was the creation of the ALA's Emerging Leaders Institute, a program to develop leadership in those new to the library profession.