Margaret L. Crist, former director of libraries at the University of Massachusetts, died on December 15 at her Amherst home.
A native of Kansas, Crist grew up on a wheat and cattle farm. She earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas and a master of library science degree from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
After earning her library science degree, Crist took a job at the Boston Public Library, where she worked for nearly a decade. She then spent seven years as regional administrator for the Central Massachusetts Regional Library System, headquartered at the Worcester Public Library. Crist served as assistant director of the Boston Public Library from 1987 to 1990 and then as assistant director of libraries at the Univerity of Michigan from 1990 to 1997.
In 1997, Crist was appointed director of the W. E. B. Du Bois Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. As library director, she oversaw the transformation of the library to the digital age but maintained the importance of the university’s print collections.