Margaret Dunbar was hired as the first librarian at Kent State in 1913 at the request of then-President John McGilvrey. They had worked together at Western Illinois State Normal School in Macomb, Illinois, before coming to Kent. Margaret’s younger sister Isabelle was hired as the assistant librarian, in charge of records and student personnel. Both women were on the staff when the university first opened.
Margaret Dunbar grew up in Monmouth, Illinois, and earned a bachelor’s degree in library science from Monmouth College. She was a member of the American Library Association and the Ohio Library Association, previously holding offices for both organizations.
The Dunbar sisters are credited with founding the library; they purchased the library’s first book—Exposition and Illustration in Teaching by John Adams—in 1914. The library was originally located on the third floor of Merrill Hall, but it was relocated to the atrium of the Administration Building (now Cartwright Hall) in 1914.
Margaret Dunbar’s personnel file notes that during the first winter in the new space, she and her sister “worked on a dirt floor, in the unfinished room, which was unheated, save for open oil burners.” She also oversaw the library move to the David Ladd Rockwell Library (now Rockwell Hall) in 1929.
In addition to her role as head librarian, Margaret Dunbar also taught classes on library materials and library management. In the short tribute that accompanies her photo in the 1916 Chestnut Burr, she is described as providing reliable counsel to all: “It doesn’t matter what your problem is—whether it is concerned with a book or not—her judgment is always good, and she is always pleased to help. In a word, she is worth knowing, and she loves the ‘Bluebird,’ her Buick roadster.” Together, the sisters earned a reputation of being kind-hearted women who put students first.
“It doesn’t matter what your problem is—whether it is concerned with a book or not—her judgment is always good, and she is always pleased to help. In a word, she is worth knowing.”
Margaret Dunbar retired from Kent State in 1943 after 30 years of service. She died on Dec. 24, 1957 at her home at 220 S. Willow St. in Kent, where she lived with her sister. At the time of Isabelle’s retirement in 1955, the university gave her a citation for long and faithful service. She died on March 1, 1960.
