Barbara Froling Immroth ’64

Barbara Froling Immroth ’64, of Portland, Ore., formerly of Denver and Austin, Tex.; Sept. 6. She earned her master’s in librarianship from the University of Denver in 1965 while marrying and starting a family. They moved to Pittsburgh, where she worked as a children’s librarian at Carnegie Library. In 1973, she began working as the school librarian at Central Catholic High School. After her husband’s passing in 1976, she continued her education in order to support her family, and over the next four years worked full-time while completing her doctorate in library and information science at the University of Pittsburgh. In 1980, she accepted a position as assistant professor at the University of Texas Graduate School of Library and Information Science (now the iSchool), where she was a faculty member for 36 years and the first woman to advance to full professor or direct a dissertation. She shaped the careers of countless librarians and won numerous state and national awards, including the American Library Association Beta Phi Mu Award in 2007 and the Texas Library Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. She led numerous committees, notably as president of the Association for Library Service to Children, of the Texas Library Association, and of the Beta Phi Mu International Library Science Honorary Society. She served on book award committees, including the Randolph Caldecott Medal and the John Newbery Medal, and authored or coauthored seven books on the topics of library service and health information. She enjoyed traveling with fellow librarians, attending librarian conferences all over the world, and being a volunteer greeter at the Texas History Museum. She is survived by two sons and daughters-in-law, three grandchildren, and three siblings.