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This dissertation examines the life and career of Carma Russell (Zimmerman) Leigh (1904–present) using oral history interviews with Carma and her contemporaries, as well as primary documents from the California State Library, the Washington State Archives, the San Bernardino County Library, the San Bernardino County Archives, the Orange County Archives, the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley, the UC Berkeley School of Information Management and Systems, the Watsonville Public Library, the Watsonville City Clerk's Office, the Berkeley Public Library, and Carma's own personal files. Even in her childhood Carma exhibited an independent spirit that defined her character throughout her life. During her career, which spanned forty-two years (1930–1972), she worked as the director of one municipal library (1931–1935) and two county libraries (1938–1945). She also served as State Librarian for both Washington (1945–1951) and California (1951–1972). Her achievements included introducing legislation that enabled the creation of inter-county libraries in Washington state and the establishment of public library systems in California. Carma was also an active agent in the passage of the federal Library Services Act (1956) and its reauthorization as the Library Services and Construction Act (1963). Her over-riding professional philosophy was based on a commitment to equitable library services through inter-agency cooperation. The effectiveness of Carma's leadership is measured here not only against the expectations of librarians and management experts of her day, but also by how her accomplishments exemplify present-day definitions of leadership. In particular, the leadership model of Helen Astin and Carole Leland is used to examine Carma's consistent performance, passionate commitment, and ability to work collectively with others. In the end, the evidence demonstrates that Carma Leigh was indeed an effective leader who still remains a positive role model for all librarians.