Catalog librarian retiring after 35-year career

Barbara Paul, associate professor in the university library, came to UWSP in 1967. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from UWSP, and master’s degrees in history and library science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and UW-Madison.

Barb has published four scholarly works, two of them with her husband, Dean of Letters & Science Justus Paul.  In 1999 Greenwood Press published their Wisconsin History: An Annotated Bibliography, the only comprehensive, up-to-date bibliography on Wisconsin’s 150-year history  since 1947.   The first collaboration for the couple was The Badger State: a Documentary History of Wisconsin (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979).

Barb has published two other scholarly bibliographies, The Germans After World War II (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1990) and The Polish-German Borderlands (Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1994). She is a member of the Association for the Bibliography of History, Wisconsin Library Association and the state and county historical societies.  She also has been an abstractor for America: History and Life since 1971.

One of her most memorable quotes: "An academic bibliography is not something you do for any kind of reward other than completing it," said Barbara. "But I enjoy the gathering of materials, making of lists and searching out the correct citations."

In retirement Barb will continue to research, spend time with family, including three grandsons, and volunteer in the University Archives. Her interests include reading history and mysteries, and choral singing. In the past four years, Barb (an alto) and Justus (bass) have participated with groups that sang in Russia, Finland, Austria, and England. This summer’s singing vacation will take them to Canterbury, England.