Dorothy Mary Neal White

Dorothy Mary Neal White QSO (22 December 1915 – 12 February 1995) was a notable New Zealand librarian and writer. She was born in Christchurch, North Canterbury, New Zealand in 1915.[1]

In 1933 Dorothy became a library assistant at the Canterbury Public Library.[1]

In 1936 Dorothy became Children's Librarian at the Dunedin Public Libraries. She later worked there again from 1957 as head of children's services until her retirement in 1974.[1]

When in 1939 Dorothy married a noted Dunedin second-hand-book seller, Richard (Dick) Desmond White, she continued to work under her maiden name as the City Council required women to resign on marriage.[1]

After the death of her first husband in 1967, Dorothy married Dunedin doctor Robert Edmund Ballantyne in 1968.[1]

In the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for community service.[2]

The Dorothy Neal White Collection, held by the National Library of New Zealand contains over 8,000 titles of pre-1940s children's literature.[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Atwool, M. E. "Dorothy Mary Neal White". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved December 2011.
  2. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 53697. p. 34. 11 June 1994. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  3. ↑ National Library of New Zealand. "Dorothy Neal White Collection". http://www.natlib.govt.nz/collections/a-z-of-all-collections/dorothy-neal-white-collection. Retrieved April 2012.