{"id":1145,"date":"2021-05-30T12:28:08","date_gmt":"2021-05-30T12:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bcl.bowdoin.edu\/news-and-events\/?p=1145"},"modified":"2021-05-31T20:56:46","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T20:56:46","slug":"judy-montgomery-1952-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bcl.bowdoin.edu\/news-and-events\/judy-montgomery-1952-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Judy Montgomery (1952-2021)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Bowdoin College Library lost a beloved member of its family with the death of Judy Montgomery, who was killed in a tragic car accident along with her husband Paul D\u2019Alessandro and their cherished dog Sparrow, on May 26th<\/sup> in Lewiston.<\/p>\n

Judy had retired from the college library in January 2017 after a remarkable 38-year career.\u00a0 Her affiliation with Bowdoin began in the summer of 1978, when she was hired by then College Librarian Arthur Monke as a government documents assistant (the job category was Typist).\u00a0 She and Paul had moved to Brunswick after both completed their library master\u2019s degrees at Kent State University.\u00a0 They had been inseparable since meeting during their first week as undergraduate students at Valparaiso University, where, I have come to learn, Paul patiently edited Judy\u2019s papers and introduced her to his favorite poetry.\u00a0 While Judy\u2019s professional life was centered in the world of academic libraries, Paul\u2019s career flourished at the Portland Public Library, where he served as a reference librarian specializing in government documents.\u00a0 Playing to his considerable strengths, he was also the book selector for the poetry collection, a task he particularly relished.\u00a0\u00a0In his work, Paul set a standard for professional excellence and camaraderie that made everyone feel part of the library family\u2014patrons and colleagues alike.\u00a0 He was both respected and loved throughout his tenure, and his rich sense of humor and boundless intellectual and natural curiosity were sorely missed when he departed after many years of service to the Portland community.<\/p>\n

At Bowdoin, Judy\u2019s abilities and talents were soon recognized, and it wasn\u2019t long before she was moved from government documents into the professional position of Catalog Librarian.\u00a0 In 1985 she was promoted to Assistant Librarian and then in 1994 promoted once again, this time by my immediate predecessor, Sherrie Bergman, to Associate Librarian.\u00a0 With each new role, Judy\u2019s engagement with the library both deepened and broadened.\u00a0 Over the years she played a major part in shaping programs and services in reference, instruction, collections, and technology\u2014including managing the project to implement the library\u2019s first online catalog and coordinating the introduction of electronic databases to the campus.\u00a0 She was also instrumental to library building projects, including the renovation of Hawthorne-Longfellow Library and the planning of the Hatch Science Library.\u00a0 The annual Children\u2019s Celebration of Martin Luther King Jr., which she created and stewarded for 17 years, was a significant contribution to the community and brought her great joy.<\/p>\n

There was little at the library that escaped Judy\u2019s participation.\u00a0 She twice served as Acting College Librarian and she was a key player in a number of collaborative Maine library initiatives, including the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin partnership (CBB) and the Maine Shared Collections Cooperative.\u00a0 Over the course of her long tenure, she served the college as a member of multiple project teams, search committees, working groups, and task forces.\u00a0 In recognition of her service, she was honored with the 2012 McKeen Center Staff Award for Commitment to Community, the 2013 Polar Award for Leadership, and, upon her retirement, the title of Associate Librarian Emerita. \u00a0Judy\u2019s service was not limited to the library and the college, however.\u00a0 She worked in many capacities on behalf of the broader Brunswick Community, most notably through her commitment to Tedford Housing, including serving on its board of directors.<\/p>\n

As a leader, a colleague, and a member of the Bowdoin community, Judy consistently focused on furthering the library\u2019s mission, with the college\u2019s faculty and students at the forefront.\u00a0 She strove for excellence and always had the best interest of the library and its users at heart.\u00a0 She brought her intelligence, creativity, generous spirit, sound judgement, and resourcefulness to bear on everything she approached.\u00a0 I can say without fear of exaggeration that her impact was felt in every nook and cranny of Hawthorne-Longfellow and the branch libraries.\u00a0 Upon my arrival at Bowdoin in 2013, I immediately took note that the most-uttered phrase among the library\u2019s staff was \u201cask Judy.\u201d\u00a0 And for months following her retirement, I was not alone in thinking \u201cwhat would Judy do?\u201d when a thorny issue presented itself.\u00a0 This was due not only to the institutional knowledge Judy had developed over decades, but to the expectation that when turning to her, one could be assured of a reasoned, thoughtful response to a question or concern, as well as the offer of a helping hand.<\/p>\n

Judy will be remembered for so many things\u2014her passion, integrity, generosity, and sense of humor, and her dedication to Bowdoin, her deep respect for its faculty and love of its students.\u00a0 Above all, she will be remembered for her humanity and compassion, and the many kindnesses she bestowed on others.<\/p>\n

Judy\u2019s extended community of friends and colleagues is left with a profound feeling of loss, particularly given the tragic, senseless accident that led to her and Paul\u2019s deaths.\u00a0 Each of us can derive solace from having had the privilege of knowing, working with, and learning from her, and can honor her memory by striving to model the way in which she lived her life.<\/p>\n

–Marjorie Hassen, Director of the College Library, on behalf of the entire Bowdoin Library staff<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Bowdoin College Library lost a beloved member of its family with the death of Judy Montgomery, who was killed in a tragic car accident along with her husband Paul D\u2019Alessandro and their cherished dog Sparrow, on May 26th in Lewiston. Judy had retired from the college library in January 2017 after a remarkable 38-year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1145","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-general","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcl.bowdoin.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcl.bowdoin.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcl.bowdoin.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcl.bowdoin.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcl.bowdoin.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1145"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/bcl.bowdoin.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1153,"href":"https:\/\/bcl.bowdoin.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1145\/revisions\/1153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bcl.bowdoin.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcl.bowdoin.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bcl.bowdoin.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}