Anne S. Duncan of Cedar Falls dies at age of 71 Head Librarian at College 30 years; retired last September
Miss Anne Stuart Duncan, 71, Head Librarian at Iowa State Teachers College for thirty years, died at 7:30 P. M. Tuesday, March 28, 1944, at her home, 2419 Tremont Street, Cedar Falls. With her at the time of death was her only surviving relative, a niece, Miss Margaret Killmaster, Toronto, Canada. Miss Duncan retired as Head Librarian at Teachers College last September because of ill health. Born at Au Sable, Michigan, September 28, 1872, she graduated from high school there and from the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. She taught for several years and then attended the University of Chicago to study library science. She received her library diploma from there in 1904. From 1905 to 1908 Miss Duncan was reference librarian at the University of Chicago, and from 1908 to 1912 she was public librarian at Marquette, Michigan. Miss Duncan came to Cedar Falls as Head Librarian at the college in 1913, one year after the library was built. The previous year she had spent in travel and study in Europe. She was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma society, Chapter FV P. E. O., and the American Association of University Women.
Waterloo Daily Courier, March 29, 1944.
Special Announcement -- March 29, 1944 -- To the Members of the Faculty
Information has been received that the funeral of Miss Anne Stuart Duncan, a loyal and devoted member of our library staff for many years, will be held at the Dahl Funeral Parlors at three o'clock, Thursday afternoon. Any member of the staff who wishes to attend the funeral may do so by making arrangements with his administrative head. Any student who wishes to attend the funeral will be excused from attending his classes on Thursday afternoon after two o'clock. The flag will be carried at half-mast Thursday afternoon and the Campanile will be played at four o'clock as an expression of respect for Miss Duncan's distinctive service to the Iowa State Teachers College during her many years as librarian at this college. On Thursday during the hours from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., the college library will be closed. Please make announcement of these facts in your classes on Thursday morning, March 30. Very sincerely yours, Malcolm Price, President.
Faculty Meeting -- Faculty Room Monday May 1, 1944, 3:30 p.m.
An Appreciation -- To sum up in a paragraph or two the influence of one single life on a large institution is impossible. Anne Stuart Duncan directed thirty years of quiet unremitting work to one great end, that of building up a library adequate to the needs of our entire college. To leave a library five times the size of that taken over is in itself an achievement but more than the mere increase of books must be measured. The books have been so selected that the needs of all fields of interest are supplied. The collection of materials on the fine arts and the well-chosen pictures on our walls represent a lifetime interest. While never meeting a class face to face, Miss Duncan has met all classes that have passed through our doors in the past thirty years. For many of the faculty Miss Duncan's name will recall pleasant informal conferences about books and magazine articles, especially about current happenings, for Miss Duncan was much interested in what went on in the world, and expressed witty and keen judgments on current affairs. An efficient librarian, yes, but much more!
Committee: Marybelle McClelland, Alison Aitchison, W. B. Fagan, I. H. Hart, Marguerite Uttley