Keating retired in 1949, having successfully steered the library, growing the collections and inviting students to study and utilize the space, through the difficult years of both the Great Depression and World War II. Her focus on teaching and accessibility was also very modern, with these themes continuing to drive academic librarians today.
Women Promoting Education in Southeast Ohio
Anne Claire Keating (1869-1952)
About Anne Claire Keating
First female librarian: Anne Claire Keating was the third librarian at Ohio University and the first female to serve in that role.
Sharing an Athens-Ohio University library: She arrived in Athens from Indiana in 1925 at the age of 46 to assume directorship of what was then the Carnegie Library. At the time, the Carnegie Library was the only library in Athens, serving both the university and broader community. Upon arrival, Keating immediately launched an ambitious remodeling plan, including “a new reference room and more commodious reading room,” as well as “a better and more complete children’s room.”
Opening Chubb Library at OHIO: In 1931 the new Edwin Watts Chubb Library opened on Ohio University’s campus. Keating oversaw the transfer of the collection, numbering around 70,000 volumes, from the Carnegie into the new, much more spacious and modern building.
Supporting women on campus: Keating also moved quickly to embed herself into the Athens university community, becoming first secretary and later president of Ohio University’s chapter of the American Association of University Women. A dedicated patroness of the Theta Phi Alpha sorority, she often collaborated with popular Dean of Women Irma Voigt to facilitate student programming and provide mentorship.
Read more about Keating at Women of Library History.