Obituary: Marie Zielińska, former Library Services to Multicultural Populations Section Chair (1989-91)
27 February 2017
We were saddened to learn that Marie Zielińska, a former Section Chair (1989-91) and one of the founders of the original working group that developed into our Section in 1984, passed away in September, 2016 at the age of 95.
Born in Cracow, Poland, Marie obtained her M.Sc. from the Jagellonian University before immigrating to Canada with her husband in 1957. Earning both her B. Bibl. Diploma at the Université de Montréal and her Master of Library Science at McGill University, she worked as a librarian at the Université de Montréal until 1973. After moving to Ottawa that year, she spent 21 years heading up the Multilingual Biblioservice at the National Library of Canada until she retired in 1994.
Passionate about library services for ethno-cultural and linguistic communities, Marie promoted these services through lectures, articles, and presentations at libraries and conferences. Not only was she an important contributor to the IFLA Multicultural Section, but she was also a strong voice for multicultural libraries in Canada.
Marie’s impact can still be felt today whether through her co-edited book “Multicultural Librarianship: An International Handbook,” published in 1992, or “Celebrating 20 Years: A Concise History of the IFLA Section on Library Services to Multicultural Populations,” which she authored and the Section published in 2001.