16th Librarian of Dartmouth College
Margaret A. Otto, 16th librarian of Dartmouth, died at age 69 on Sunday,
Dec. 10, in Hanover following a courageous battle with cancer.
Margaret A. Otto (Photo by Joseph Mehling '69)
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President James
Wright says, "Margaret was a wonderful colleague and friend-and for so
many years stewarded Dartmouth libraries to best serve our faculty and
students. We will surely miss her, but her legacy lives on in so many ways on
the Dartmouth campus and beyond."
Otto became the first woman to lead the Dartmouth College Library in 1979. Under her
directorship, which spanned 21 years, the library made major advances. Foremost
among her many successes was her establishment of a strong service ethic across
the libraries and a dedication to customer service among her staff. She is also
remembered for the growth of collections and the development of access tools
she oversaw while at Dartmouth.
She foresaw the coming information technology revolution and positioned the
library to embrace the digital age through the creation of one of the first online library catalogs in the country.
Throughout her career she continued to support the early adoption of new
electronic services and resources, recognizing the value they brought to
faculty and students. She understood the historic importance of the library's
collections, creating a preservation department to ensure their long-term
conservation, and overseeing the acquisition of the two millionth volume to the
collection.
Also during her tenure a number of major library building projects were
completed, including the construction of both the Matthews-Fuller Biomedical
Library at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Berry Library in Hanover, the
renovation of Webster Hall for the Rauner Special Collections Library, and the
expansion of the Paddock Music Library.
Prior to her tenure at Dartmouth, Otto was employed from 1964 to 1979 by the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries. She began her career there as
assistant science librarian, rising to become the associate director. She was a
longtime member of the American Library
Association and was an active participant on many committees and
professional organizations from the state to the national level. She served on
the Executive Board of the Association of
Research Libraries, was a member of the Board of Governors for the Research Libraries Group, and served on a number
of important working groups and committees for that organization. She was also
active at the local level and served as a member of the corporation for the
Howe Library in Hanover.
Born in Boston on Oct. 22, 1937, Otto received a bachelor's degree from
Boston University in 1960 with a major in English literature. She received a
Master of Science degree in 1963 from Simmons College School of Library Science
and a Master of Arts in English literature from Simmons in 1970.
Upon her retirement in 2000 she split her residence between her two
loves-the community of Hanover and Dartmouth and the ocean off of Cape
Cod.
Jeffrey Horrell, current dean of libraries and librarian of the College says,
"Margaret Otto's gentle but determined leadership helped shape the
Dartmouth College Library in an era of emerging technologies. For Margaret,
technology was not an end in itself, but for how it could transform discovery,
teaching, research, and learning for the Dartmouth community. Her legacy lives
in our work every day and we are so grateful for it. Throughout her career,
Margaret remained a modest person and was known for her quick and sharp wit and
sense of humor."
She is survived by her two sons, Christopher and Peter, a professor of
mathematics at Willamette University in Salem, Ore., and his wife, Susan; her
two grandchildren, Tobin and Quinlin; her sister, Joan, and her husband John,
of Sudbury, Mass.; her niece Nicole, of Somerville, Mass.; and her nephew
John-David and his wife Megan of Cambridge, Mass.
A memorial service was held Dec. 15 at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in
Hanover. Contributions in her memory may be made to the Upper Valley Humane Society and the Salvation
Army.
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