Dona Lloyd
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DONA LLOYD


An integral member of the Bibliographic Control Department of the University Libraries for nineteen years, Dona Lloyd retired this past December, a victim of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease). On May 4th she succumbed to this illness.

Although Dona lived in Texas nearly all of her adulthood, she never did become pure "Texan". Growing up in the Pacific Northwest --- Washington, Idaho, and Montana --- she found the move to Texas traumatic and remained uncertain about the vernacular here.

Unlike many librarians, Dona never aspired to any profession other than librarianship. She worked in the local library before she was old enough to enter school. Her first paying job was that of a page in the Spokane (Washington) Public Library. After earning a B.A. in Library Science at NTSU in 1953, Dona worked as a library assistant in serials acquisitions at the General Libraries at the University of Texas at Austin from 1953 to 1956 an then as head librarian at the Rusk County (Texas) Public Library from 1956 to 1967.

In 1968 she earner her M.L.S. at NTSU and joined the staff as a monographs cataloger here at the University Libraries shortly thereafter. At the time Dr. David A. Webb was director, and all of the collections were housed in what is now the ISB. In 1971 Dona participated in the move of the collections (less library science, science and technology) into the present Willis Library by helping in the relocation of the main card catalogs.

In 1974 the Libraries entered the cataloging computer age, the first Southwestern United States institution in the Ohio College Library Center (OCLC) bibliographic utility. Dona and other catalogers learned the MARC format for inputting cataloging information in machine-readable form. A decade later the Libraries installed its own local computer bibliographic database using the VTLS system. Dona again became a pioneer, performing a major role. Most memorable was her direction of the Libraries-wide barcoding project which the entire staff went to the shelves and barcoded volumes for which item (i.e. circulation) records had been created by a computer program for approximately 255,000 bibliographic records.

Additionally, Dona served at various times on such library committees as Special Collections, Collection Development, and Staff Development. For at least ten years, she served on the University Student Fee Committee.

An active member of the Library Staff Association from its inception in 1969 until 1987, Dona served in many capacities too numerous to cite. Through the years she chaired several committees and was vice-president from 1972 until 1974. Her last service was as a member of the Scholarship and Awards Committee for two years ending in 1987.

Dona was a unique individual to her many friends and co-workers. Unpretentious, she possessed candor witnessed often here at the Libraries in group situations. She was counted on to make a statement or to ask a question everyone present wanted expressed but was hesitant to state aloud. A sympathetic friend and confidante, Dona was a magnet to people, attracting then because she was a person to whom they could speak honestly of her concerns, hopes, fears, etc. There were no pretenses.

Dona could and did add her own brand of "lloydese" on almost any issue of topic. "Pure Dona" was the turn of the phrase often expressed by colleagues alike.

WE SHALL MISS HER.