Bessie Gyneth Tressler was a librarian from 1946 to 1969. She was born in 1903 in Emporia, Kansas. She earned her Bachelor of Arts at the College of Emporia in 1926, where she studied music. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Library Science from the University of Illinois in 1930, and attended further study at the University of Chicago. Before coming to OSC, she had sixteen years of experience in library work, having been a cataloger and assistant librarian in several different libraries. She was hired as an Order Assistant at $2,400 per year. Since most of her training was in cataloging, her supervisors planned to transfer her to the Catalog Department as soon as there was an opening. She became an assistant professor in 1948, an associate professor in 1953, and became the Head Order Librarian in 1965. In 1967, she was appointed as the Head of Acquisitions Department. She took sabbatical leave from January-April of 1957, which she used to explore college and university libraries throughout New York City, Boston, and Philadelphia, in addition to visiting agents, publishers, out-of-print dealers ad magazine agents in New York City and Boston. She was earning $13,020 at time of her retirement in 1969. She was given Emeritus status, after spending 23 years at OSC, for her contributions to the library. She was a member of the American Library Association and the American Association of University Women.
Wilda Thompson was a Serials Division library assistant, who supervised mending and binding from 1941 to 1945. She was born in 1912 in Camp Murray, Fort Lewis, Washington. She graduated from Lincoln High School in Tacoma. Her father was a former state adjutant general. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington in 1933, in the field of French language and literature, with additional study in English and European literature, history, and sociology. Two years later, she returned to attain her Bachelor of Arts in Librarianship in 1935. Before coming to OSC, she worked as a catalog assistant at the University of Idaho Library for four years. She also was a volunteer librarian at Clover Park Junior High School, where she assisted with organizing the school library and training student assistants. She was hired at $1,500 per year in 1941. During childhood, Thompson endured a severe case of diphtheria, which left her with unusually thickened vocal chords. This meant that she could only exhale a small amount of a air with each breath, limiting her to a moderate range of physical activity. She could not take part in work that necessitated much physical activity, such as running up and down stairs stacking books. She did not find this condition especially limiting in her career. Her former colleagues recommended her highly and emphasized that this physical condition did not interfere with her work. She resigned in 1945 to take a position at the University of Washington Library. In 1942, she passed after a brief illness at the age of 39. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the American Library Association, and the Pacific Northwest LIbrary Association, among others.
Margaret Ann Villeneuve was a circulation assistant from 1937 to 1940. She was born in 1912 in Taylor, Washington. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Library Science from the University of Washington in 1933, where she completed additional study in contemporary English and American Literature. Throughout her university schooling, she was a clerical assistant at the Columbia Branch of Seattle Public Library, where she spent eight years. She then spent two years as a circulation assistant at the Seattle Public Library. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and was the treasurer of the Pacific Northwest Library Association in 1936. She was hired at $1600 per year. Lucy M. Lewis, the Director of Libraries, considered Villeneuve one of her “most valued members of the Executive Board,” for her work with the Pacific Northwest Library Association. She offered Villeneuve a position over the summer for $1500, which she did not accept. The circulation department then experienced a “complete turnover”--one resignation for marriage, and three for better salaries--and Lewis insisted that she needed an experienced assistant whom she trusted, and for that they needed to pay better salaries. Villeneuve resigned in 1940 to accept a position with the Boise Public Library.
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.