When Mary Lou Bendig walked through the doors of the Murray Library on March 3, 1976 she had no idea that when she left the library it would be when she retired more than 40 years later.

Mary Lou’s first position in the library was in the Serials Department as a keypunch operator [a few of those key punch cards can still be found in some of the books]. Mr. Serge Lakhanpal was her first department head and Anita Langford was her first supervisor.

Shortly after she began working in the Serials Department, Mary Lou experienced the first of many organizational changes in the Library. This change saw the creation of the Production Unit with RoseAnne McCrory as the Department Head and Peggy Koenig and Eldeen McFaull becoming her co-workers. Apart from a 2 year position in Education (1978) and a brief sojourn as an acquisitions operator, Mary Lou has devoted her entire career at the Library to working with Serials. In her words: “Serials were so complex, interesting, ever changing, there was never a dull moment with them! I loved all the detail. There were so many titles, so much work to do, that you rarely caught up with it. Policies were regularly set to handle each new problem that arose…”

In 1998, Mary Lou took on the responsibilities of a new position, that of Bindery supervisor. While serials were still a big part of her work the intricacies of preservation for the entire Library collection became a major focus and once again her attention to detail has been an asset. As she prepares to retire she continues to document the processes required for this focus. Continue reading →