IRENE JOHNSON PATJENS (1906-1997)

Irene Patjens was born Irene L. Johnson on May15th in Michigan, and her name was changed when her mother married her second husband, Henry (or Heinrich) Patjens.

Patjens received her BS in Library Science from the University of Washington in 1928.  For the next three years she worked as a children’s librarian at the Deschutes County Public Library in Bend, Oregon.

In 1931, Irene Patjens came to NYPL as a substitute in the Central Children’s Room.  By 1940 she has risen to be the First Assistant at the Mott Haven Branch.  Starting in 1944, she served as the Branch Librarian at Woodstock, 125^th Street and 96^th Street branches.  She retired in 1963.

In 1932, Irene L. Patjens married T.E.R. Singer (1902-1966) who was also a librarian.  Over the next 31 years at NYPL she used both her maiden and her married name, although Patjens was most commonly used. 

Today would be Irene Patjens 105^th birthday.