The Legacy of the Librarian
When Rosemary Kelley joined College of Osteopathic Medicine as its medical librarian in 1978, the library for the fledgling medical school was rudimentary at best, with only 200 old medical texts and no journal subscriptions or reference materials. “She, like the founding faculty members and the first classes of medical students, took a substantial risk on an as yet unaccredited institution. She was the founding librarian of COM and built an excellent medical library literally from nothing,” said Andrew Golub, Dean of Library Services.
Background
Kelley came to UNE with a stellar background, having earned her B.A. from Bates in 1955, and with professional office experience from Tufts University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School. Over the next six years, she singlehandedly built a medical library of 5,000 volumes and 300 journals. She also developed an audiovisual collection with hardware and software, and a reference collection, and hired, trained and managed five people as a part of the library staff — all on very tight budgets.
“With such a high percentage of library materials available electronically today, we think nothing of having thousands of full-text medical journals available to students and faculty 24/7," Golub noted. "But in the late 1970s, to have created a viable, and accreditable medical library, as Rosemary did at UNE, was a huge undertaking.”
In 1984, the medical and undergraduate libraries merged to provide a more streamlined operation with an emphasis on medicine, health sciences and human services. As a result, in 1985 at age 53, Kelley decided to attend Simmons College where she completed her master’s degree in library services .
Accomplishments
Among her other accomplishments, Kelley was published--Chapter 14 of Case Studies in Library Computer Systems by Richard Palmer, Ph.D. (New York: RR Bowker Co. 1983) and was a member of the Special Libraries Association, Medical Libraries Association, Health and Medical Information Cooperative of Southern Maine and Southern Maine Library District.
Kelley’s hard work and dedication were instilled in her by her family. Her Irish grandfather immigrated to Hiram, Maine where he built and worked a farm and created a timber business, involving the grandchildren in an environment where hard work was part of their lives from an early age. Kelley took that attitude to heart, achieving much in her career.
Her achievements were even more significant as she had cerebral palsy, but she never allowed the disease to hamper her or used it as an excuse. She was also a cancer survivor and lived with diabetes.
Her nephew Jack Kelley said, “Despite these daunting medical ailments, Rosemary was always in good spirits.” With her strong work ethic, a lifetime of saving and some solid estate planning, Rosemary Kelley was able to give back in a way that she believed could make a difference.
Endowed Scholarship
Sadly, Rosemary passed away in April 2007, but her planned gift of $200,000 has enabled the University to create an endowed scholarship for COM students with financial needs who aspire to do better.
“Rosemary believed in helping those less fortunate who also wished to improve themselves and their communities – something that comes naturally to UNE’s medical students,” said Jack Kelley.
Andrew Golub added, “The fact that she left a generous gift to the COM Scholarship Fund is perfectly in keeping with her dedication and devotion to these medical students. We at UNE today are indebted to folks like Rosemary Kelley who saw the potential and took the risks necessary to begin this venture.”