Margaret Hutchins

Margaret Hutchins (September 21, 1884 – January 4, 1961) was an American librarian and educator who taught library science at Columbia University from 1931 to 1952. She specialized in reference librarianship.

Life and career Born into a well-to-do family in Lancaster, New Hampshire, Hutchins earned a BA degree in Greek and philosophy with honors from Smith College in 1906, a BLS with honors from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1908, and a MLS from Columbia University in 1930. Supervised by Isadore Mudge, her thesis examined British interlibrary loan practices.

Hutchins began her career at the University of Illinois as a reference assistant (1908–1912), a library assistant in the classics department (1912–1913), and a reference librarian (1913–1927). She taught summers at the Chautauqua Institution in 1926 and 1927, which led to her recruitment as first assistant and then superintendent of branch reference work at Queens Borough Public Library. In 1931, she joined the faculty of the School of Library Service at Columbia University as an instructor, gaining promotions to assistant professor in 1935 and associate professor in 1946. She retired to her hometown in 1952.