Biographical Text
Professor Emerita of Library Science Mary Eunice Query (September 1, 1909 -), retired college professor, was born in Hudson, North Carolina, the daughter of James Franklin and Perry Lee Long Query. She has one sister, Lucille Hickman, and one brother, Hunter Query, both of Hudson. Miss Query graduated from Davenport High School, Lenoir, North Carolina, in 1926, and after finishing a college course there in 1928, taught at Reeds Elementary School in Davidson County for two years. She then attended Duke University and received her A.B. degree in English and social studies in 1931. Miss Query then accepted a teaching position at Hudson High School, Hudson, North Carolina and taught there from 1931 to 1936. In 1936, she became the assistant librarian at High Point High School in High Point, North Carolina. She remained there until 1938 when she went back to college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received her A.B. degree in library science that same year. At the end of the year, she accepted a position in Lenoir, North Carolina working as the librarian at Lenoir High School. She served there as the librarian for nine years. During her last two years at the high school (1945-1947), she also was the librarian for the Caldwell County Public Library in Lenoir. In 1947, Miss Query joined the staff at Appalachian State Teachers College (now Appalachian State University) (ASU), and taught there for 25 years. While at ASU she earned an M.A. degree. During her tenure at ASU, Query was active in the National Educators Association, the North Carolina Education Association, the American Library Association, the North Carolina Library Association (president and secretary, 1969 to 1971), and the Southeast-em Library Association. Query served as acting state school library adviser for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, as interim chairman of the ASU Library Science Department, and as director of five library education institutes and courses funded by the United States Office of Education. Recognized for her knowledge and contributions to the field of school libraries, Query acted in consulting and accrediting roles for libraries and library programs throughout the southeastern United States. Mary Eunice Query retired from Appalachian on June 30,1972. ASU honored her in 1981 by naming a division of the university library the "Ila Justice-Eunice Query Instructional Media Center." Miss Query has also
been honored by several library science scholarships which bear her name and to which she continues to make endowments: the North Carolina Library Association Query-Long Scholarship; the Appalachian State University Eunice Query Scholarship; and the Appalachian Scholarship, given by Miss Query in honor of her former students and colleagues in the Library Science Department at Appalachian. She has also established a scholarship for the study of youth librarianship at the School of Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Additionally, Miss Query has been recognized by receiving the Distinguished Alumni Award by the School of Library Science at the University of North Carolina. In 1984 Miss Query was honored with the Mary Peacock Douglas Award, North Carolina's most prestigious award recognizing contributions to school librarianship. Miss Query was always active in the United Methodist Church in Boone; she taught Sunday school classes, served on the administrative board, helped to organize the church library, and served in various official capacities in the United Methodist Women. She now lives with her widowed sister in Hudson, North Carolina. In retirement, she particularly enjoys traveling in the United States and abroad, needlework, and her work with senior citizens in Hudson. Sources: Appalachian State University files and personal correspondence. - Dr. Richard D. Howe and Ms. Laurie Vong
Comments