ALICE KEATS O’CONNOR (1886-1928)

Alice O’Connor was a much beloved children’s librarian at NYPL and her connections to the profession originated in childhood.  She grew up in Hartford CT and as a child was a member of the Agassiz Club, a children’s book group organized by Caroline Hewins, one of the pioneering children’s librarians in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.      

O’Connor was a member of the first class of the NYPL Library School and received her two-year degree in 1913.  She worked as a children’s librarian in four NYPL branches, 1913-1923.

O’Connor took a leave of absence in 1920-1921 to work with the American Committee for Devastated France.  There she organized and directed a new children’s library in Soissons, France.

Two years after her return to NYPL Alice O’Connor was appointed Branch Librarian at the Seward Park Branch but had to resign the following year to return to Hartford to care for her ailing mother.   She did resume her career by becoming the head librarian of the Farmington (CT) Public Library, 1924-1928.

Alice K. O’Connor died in Hartford at the age of 42 after a serious illness.