By Ethan Forman
Staff writer
July 10, 2009 12:13 am DANVERS — It took Red Sox slugger Jim Rice 15 years to get into the Hall of Fame, but it took a former Marblehead junior high librarian twice as long to be honored for getting students to hit the books during the bicentennial. Virginia "Ginny" MacKeen, who was the librarian at the former Marblehead Junior High from 1967 to 1978, was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame for the New England School Library Association. "It was a shock," MacKeen said when she learned she was being honored for her work during the bicentennial in 1976. A 1936 graduate of Swampscott High and 1942 graduate of Salem Teachers College, she retired in 1978 at the age of 60. Today, MacKeen and the School Library Association are both 90, and the association recently celebrated its own birthday with its first Hall of Fame induction in Boston. Because of health reasons, MacKeen could not make the banquet, but she sent a letter instead, which was put on display for others to read. She lives in a senior housing complex on Stone Street not far from the Danvers Senior Center. On Wednesday, the association's treasurer and historian, Douglas Maitland, and his twin brother, Duncan, dropped by MacKeen's apartment to present her with the certificate. Douglas Maitland, MacKeen's friend and a former Swampscott High library media specialist, was also inducted into the Hall of Fame, along with MacKeen and 34 others. He retired in 2002. Thirty-three years ago, MacKeen was chairwoman of the School Library Association's Bay State Bicentennial effort, and she compiled a list of books called "Massachusetts in the Revolution." It helped that she was volunteering at the archives of the Essex Institute in Salem, now part of the Peabody Essex Museum. Her book list was put together with those from the five other New England states, then published for school librarians throughout the region to use. She recently gave a copy of it to Town Archivist Richard Trask at the Peabody Institute Library on Sylvan Street. He originally contributed to it, MacKeen said. Staff writer Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673 or eforman@salemnews.com.
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Photos
Virginia MacKeen, a Danvers resident, was cited by the New England Educational Media Association with the 2008 Hall of Fame Award for work done during the bicentennial. She is holding a letter from then-Gov. Michael Dukakis acknowledging her work at that time. Staff Photographer