Neal Harlow was born in Columbus, Indiana, in 1908. He began as a librarian at the Bancroft Library in Berkeley in 1934 and served as the University Librarian of UBC from 1951-1961. His book The Maps of San Francisco Bay was published in 1950, immediately before he arrived at UBC. He was the founder of the Friends of UBC Library. He helped to found the School of Librarianship at UBC, later known as the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, now the School of Information or iSchool. Harlow was also a proponent of fine printing and bookmaking and brought his enthusiasm for the printer's craft to Vancouver. While serving on the President's Committee on University Publications, he was influential in improving the design of books and pamphlets bearing UBC's imprint, utilizing and encouraging the talents of local typographers. His work at UBC increased acquisitions tremendously, which led to an expansion of the library in 1960 with the addition of the South Wing. Harlow resigned from UBC on June 30, 1961, to become Dean of the Graduate School of Library Service, Rutgers University. He retired on June 30, 1969. After his retirement, Harlow renewed his research into early California history and wrote several articles and books on the subject. Neal Harlow died on July 13, 2000.