ELIZABETH L. KING ABOLIN (1904-1985)

Elizabeth King was born in Michigan 107 years ago.  She attended the University of Michigan and received an AB in liberal arts in 1926.  During her college years she worked as a substitute and then a reference librarian at the Hackley Public Library in Muskegon MI.

Upon her graduation from college, King moved to New York City and began substituting at NYPL.  She entered the NYPL Training Class in 1927 and worked as both a children’s librarian and as a school and reference librarian.   She received her certificate from Pratt Institute’s Library School in 1930.

In 1936 King studied British library methods as an exchange librarian at the Bury-Knowle Branch of the Oxford (England) Public Library.  A year after her return, she was promoted to Branch Librarian at the Washington Heights Branch, 1937-1939, and also headed the Hudson Park Branch, 1939-1943.

Upon her return from England In 1936, King married Louis Charles M. Abolin (1886-1968) who worked for the US Labor Department.  Elizabeth King Abolin resigned from NYPL in 1943 when her husband was transferred to Washington DC.  Between 1949-1954 she worked in several federal and special libraries in the Washington DC area.   She was later Coordinator of Adult Services at the Prince George’s County Memorial Library in Maryland.