Obituaries Sheila Birch (née Martin) S I
heila left school during World War Two and started work at St Marylebone Reference library. There she met many who would become lifelong friends and was part of a group whose social events she carried on attending until recent years. She liked to relate that on VE Day when the news broke the staff simply closed the library and went off to Trafalgar Square to celebrate! She joined the Library Asso- ciation in 1944; a continuous membership of 75 years. She passed the elementary exam of the Library Association at the end of 1945 and the regulation exam in 1948.
Her career was put on hold
after marriage in 1949, followed by three children, but when the youngest reached school age Sheila became librarian
Sheila Mallett (née Dallison)
t is with sadness that we report that Sheila Mallett died on 19 November 2019, after suffering from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease.
A funeral service was held at St. Remigius’ Church, Hethersett, on Friday 13 December, attended by family and friends, including many friends from the Retirement Association.
Sheila studied at the Loughborough School of Librarian- ship and became a Chartered Librarian in 1964. She worked as a Reference Librarian at the West Suffolk Head- quarters until 1969.
In 1980, Sheila returned to work as a Resources Assis- tant at Keswick Teacher Training College and when the College closed, she transferred to U.E.A. in the School of Education, until she retired in 2000.
Sheila served on the Retirement Association Committee for a number of years.
She derived particular satisfaction from helping the students find the teaching resources they needed. She also enjoyed her work as a Reference Librarian in the Norwich Central Library.
Sheila was married for 53 years to Christopher. They had three children – Rachel, Christopher (died in infancy) and Rebecca.
Christopher Mallett, husband
at the Kilburn Polytechnic Annexe in Colindale. She then moved into school librarianship, first at Dame Alice Owen’s School in Islington and then Potters Bar, before moving to Haberdasher’s Askes Girls School in Elstree. Sheila ended her career back in what had by then become Westminster public libraries.
Because of her war-disrupted education Sheila was deter- mined to carry on studying which she did whilst working and raising three children, becoming a Chartered Librarian, gaining an A Level and a Diploma in English Literature, and then a GCSE in Italian. Her love of all things Italian, including the language, continued right until the end as did her evident joy of books and reading. Her two daughters followed her into the field of librarianship.
Joanna Birch, daughter
Andy Zelinger. Andy, was Resources and Collections Librarian at the House of Lords Library, and was a former chair of Scoop (Standing Committee On Official Publications). An obituary will follow.
For obituary submissions and guidance please email
InfoPro@cilip.org.uk or write to us at Obituaries, 7 Ridgmount Street, London, WC1E 7AE.
54 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL March 2020
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