Harriet Janet Warner was First Assistant in the Reference Department from 1930 to 1961. She was born in 1895 in Mason City, Iowa. She studied at Cornell College and the University of California at Berkeley, earning her Bachelor of Arts from the latter in 1919 in English Literature. For the next five years she taught at high schools in Idaho and California, and for the next four years was a librarian of the high school and junior college library in Reedley, California. She then spent a year with the Palo Alto Public Library as a member of the circulation department. She returned to school and studied at the University of California School of Librarianship, where she showed “ability and interest… particularly in the courses in reference materials.” Of the eight courses she took she received four A’s and four B’s, and was described as “alert, capable, and energetic…unhesitatingly recommended.” She was hired by OSC as First Assistant in the Reference Department, for $1700 per year. She was a substitute for Evangeline Thurber, who was on leave for the time period. She continued in this position for some time, periodically taking charge as Acting Head of the Reference Department when the permanent Head took leaves of absence. In 1943, Circulation Librarian Ruth Krueger took leave of absence to run her family farm in the summers, as her father had recently passed and her brother was drafted into the army. Warner was transferred to supervise the Circulation Department, due to her experience as periodic Acting Head of Reference. For this increase in work, her salary was raised from $1800 to $2000. Warner took sabbatical from March 1--June 30 1949 to rest, travel, and visit libraries throughout the southwestern states and Mexico, for which she took full salary. She retired in 1961, at which point she was earning $6695, and was given emeritus status. She passed away in 1982. She was a member of the American Library Association, the Pacific Northwest Library Association, and the Oregon LIbrary Association. She was described as active in community work, popular among faculty and students, and “Extremely loyal to the interests” of OSC.
