Ralph Adrian Ulveling (May 9, 1902 – March 21, 1980)[1] was an American librarian best known for his support of intellectual freedom, interracial understanding, and the advancement of the library and information science profession.

In 1944 he prevented the Detroit police department from removing Strange Fruit by Lillian Smith from the library shelves, but on the other hand, he felt that librarians had an obligation to guide readers in "right thinking.

Ulveling challenged the ALA's newly adopted "Statement on Labeling" in 1951 with a proposal to segregate library materials containing propaganda into the reference collection and to make them available only to "researchers."

[5] In 1957, Ulveling inadvertently created a nationwide censorship controversy when his disparaging remarks about The Wizard of Oz were printed in the Lansing State Journal.

Ulveling criticized the book's "negativism" and said that "instead of setting a high goal...it drags young minds down to a cowardly level".