Essential: For the Love of Books

For the theme of essential, I have chosen books and librarians. From my earliest recollection of my library experiences, librarians have been wonderful guides for books and research. From childhood reading of Maj Lindman's: Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka  & Snip, Snap, and Snurr, to the Laura Ingalls Wilder pioneer series and Enid Blyton's British mysteries of five school friends, I've been hooked on books.

As a grandparent one of my greatest joys is finding, buying and sharing books with my grandchildren.

And today is NATIONAL READING DAY.

This is a close-up of a triptych about Jean P. Black, who was Portland State University's first Librarian. I saw this when in PSU's library conducting some research. A capture of the full triptych is in the extra.

"Born in Duluth, Minnesota (1903), she spent most of her childhood in Europe until she was compelled to return to the United States during World War I. By 1

932, she had earned four degrees from three colleges, including a Ph.D. in History from the University of Michigan and a B.S. in Library Science from the University of Washington. 

She studied in Rome, Italy, for her doctorate and worked as a research librarian for numerous American institutions on her return to the U.S., including Stanford’s Hoover Library and the Iowa Historical Society.

Black was hired to establish and direct the Vanport University Extension Center in 1946. The college, founded on the site of a federal housing project adjacent to the Columbia River Slough, cobbled its campus together from buildings left after Vanport’s community of wartime workers began to disperse." Two years later the Columbia River flooded and ended the city of Vanport.  

Dr. Black retired in 1969. See the hyperlink above for more in-depth information on this woman's amazing life!