Putnam, Miriam

Miriam Putnam, 1904-1996, served as director of Memorial Hall Library for 28 years from 1939-1967. A 1925 graduate of Radcliffe, Ms. Putnam went on to receive a Library Science degree from Columbia University. She worked at the Newton Free Library before coming to Andover. Miss Putnam served as Chairperson of the American Library Association Subcommittee on Adult Education, a board member of the Public Library Association and as President of the Massachusetts Library Association. She frequently contributued to national publications for librarians and educators.

During her tenure, Andover became the headquarters of one of the seven subregions in the Eastern Massachusetts Regional Library system. The contract was signed on June 11, 1967. Miss Putnam retired from Memorial Hall in 1967 but went on to work as Assistant Librarian at Talledega College, the oldest historically black college in Alabama.

Miss Putnam was a member of the NAACP, the ACLU and the Alabama Council on Human Relations.

...Miriam Putnam at groundbreaking, 1965.... click to enlarge

..."Miriam Putnam '25 new leader of the Radcliffe Republican Club. Boston Post November 17, 1924

See

• Miriam Putnam was librarian extraordinaire Andover Townsman October 4, 2018 [1]
• Having the First Shovelful. (photo) (groundbreaking for library's 1960's addition) Andover Townsman September 2, 1965, p.1

• Reading Room Named for Town Librarian. (photo) Andover Townsman November 23, 1966, p.1,16.

• Miss Putnam Leaving Memorial Hall. (photos) Andover Townsman, September 14, 1967, p. 1,2.

• Miriam Putnam obituary Andover Townsman', March 28, 1996

Here are a few charming diary pages that Ms Putnam left behind when she retired. AJA refers to A.J. Anderson, her successor. File:Miriamputnam.pdf

• Putnam, Miriam Film Forums an Adventure in Adult Education Media:The_educational_screen.pdf , volume 22, 1956

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