It is indeed with sadness that I read of the passing of Mary Larsgaard. I first met Mary at the 1989 ALA Annual conference in Chicago. I was still working on my MILS at Michigan and wanted to be a map librarian so I attended all the MAGRIT
meetings and programs and Mary welcomed me into the fold as did all the MAGIRT members. I found Mary to be a kind and friendly person, not only as a colleague but as a mentor and a friend too. She was always willing to listen and was never shy on giving her
ideas and opinions on a map related topic. As the years trickled by I had many an opportunity to work with Mary on MAGIRT and map librarian activities, projects and appreciated her professionalism and candor. I learned so much from her, both in person and
through reading her book on Map Librarianship. If I ever had a question or a problem on how to deal with a cataloging issue or any other map related issue I could always count on Mary to give me advice or some ideas on how to handle it. She is one of the giants
in our field. Rest in peace Mary. I will truly miss you.
John A. Olson
Librarian for Government and Geo-Information
Department of Research & Scholarship
t 315.443.4818
f
315.443.9510
358 E.S. Bird Library, 222 Waverly Ave., Syracuse, NY 13244
From: Maps-L: Map Librarians, etc. [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Jon Jablonski
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2017 9:09 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: sad news: Mary Larsgaard
Dear Friends:
It is with a heavy heart that I write to inform you of the passing of our friend and former colleague Mary Larsgaard. Mary took ill last winter, and passed comfortably on Tuesday morning. Up until early June, Mary continued to enjoy lunch outings and discussions
of her reading list with friends.
Mary arrived at UCSB as map librarian and assistant department head of the Map & Imagery Laboratory in 1988, and for her final year served as department head before retiring in June of 2009.
Mary literally wrote the book on map librarianship. It is called Map Librarianship, and Mary penned all three editions: 1978, 1987, and 1998. She was a giant in the cataloging field: frequently writing with Penn State’s Paige Andrew, and served for
decades on the Anglo-American Cataloguing Committee for Cartographic Materials. With Paige, she was a founding editor of the Journal of Map and Geography Libraries.
Mary earned her Master of Arts in Library Science from the University of Minnesota, and holds a second MA in Geography from the University of Oregon. Prior to coming to UCSB, she was Assistant Director for Special Collections at the Colorado School of Mines.
She also has the distinction of serving as president or chair of all three major American map library organizations: ALA’s Map & Geography Roundtable, SLA’s Geography and Map Division, and the Western Association of Map Libraries.
Mary is survived by her sister Caroline Thompson. A memorial service is being planned for Friday, August 4 in Santa Barbara, which is Mary’s birthday. Details to follow.
-jon
Jon Jablonski
Map & Imagery Lab
UCSB Library