RIP Anne Tracy, Librarian
Mar. 21st, 2003 03:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pantryslutI just found out that Anne Tracy died.
There's a little squib of an obituary in The Advocate about her:
"Anne Tracy, 64, a librarian who laid the groundwork for gay studies at Michigan State University, of liver cancer, February 14."
I still have her business card in my rolodex.
In my mind, she was the ideal of a librarian -- quiet, gray-haired with glasses, and so, so smart and well-read. I never knew her well, but I did meet her on a couple of occasions, while I was a student at MSU (I was in the inaugural "queer studies" course there), working on the GLBT Task Force; and it was nice to see her again making a presentation to my Clarion class in '97.
The MSU Special Collections room is a special place for me. It's like it was built with me in mind. Three of its emphases are GLBT works, science fiction, and comics. Yes, I spent more than a few hours down in the basement, armed with only a pencil and a photocopy card, reading until my eyes blurred.
I really respected her work. She was open, friendly, always soliciting advice on what might enhance the Special Collections archive. She was a friend of small presses and "marginal" work, and always curious, open, learning. I'm glad that her death got at least a little national notice, because I suspect she's the kind of person who didn't think she was important -- her job was, but not her, personally. I'm glad she got even a tiny smidgen of recognition for her work in building an enormously important section of the MSU library, a collection that's both thoughtful and extensive, and sadly, so rare.
I'm sorry that we'll never have a chance to meet again.
There's a little squib of an obituary in The Advocate about her:
"Anne Tracy, 64, a librarian who laid the groundwork for gay studies at Michigan State University, of liver cancer, February 14."
I still have her business card in my rolodex.
In my mind, she was the ideal of a librarian -- quiet, gray-haired with glasses, and so, so smart and well-read. I never knew her well, but I did meet her on a couple of occasions, while I was a student at MSU (I was in the inaugural "queer studies" course there), working on the GLBT Task Force; and it was nice to see her again making a presentation to my Clarion class in '97.
The MSU Special Collections room is a special place for me. It's like it was built with me in mind. Three of its emphases are GLBT works, science fiction, and comics. Yes, I spent more than a few hours down in the basement, armed with only a pencil and a photocopy card, reading until my eyes blurred.
I really respected her work. She was open, friendly, always soliciting advice on what might enhance the Special Collections archive. She was a friend of small presses and "marginal" work, and always curious, open, learning. I'm glad that her death got at least a little national notice, because I suspect she's the kind of person who didn't think she was important -- her job was, but not her, personally. I'm glad she got even a tiny smidgen of recognition for her work in building an enormously important section of the MSU library, a collection that's both thoughtful and extensive, and sadly, so rare.
I'm sorry that we'll never have a chance to meet again.
