PATRICIA BATTIN

1929 - 2019

PATRICIA MEYER BATTIN  
Died on April 22, 2019 at the age of 89. She was born on June 2,1929 in Gettysburg, PA, the daughter of Emanuel Albert and Josephine (Lehman) Meyer. She attended Sidwell Friends High School in Washington, DC, graduated from Swarthmore College in 1951. Her marriage to William Thomas Battin ended in divorce in 1974. She is survived by her brother Nicholas Meyer (wife Barbara), her children Laura Battin Geradine (husband Paul), Joanna Brigham (husband Craig), and Thomas Meyer Battin, her granddaughters Katherine Geradine, Roseanne Geradine, Alice Geradine, grandson Beau Brigham, four nieces and two nephews. She had a long career in libraries beginning at SUNY Binghamton while earning a master's degree in Library and Information Science from Syracuse University in 1967. In 1974, she was recruited to Columbia University as the Director of Library Services and became a vice president in 1978. In 1987, she moved to DC to lead the Commission on Preservation and Access. Her work there led to being awarded the National Endowment for the Humanities medal by President Clinton in 1999. After retiring from the Commission in 1994, Pat led the three-year Virtual Library Project at Emory University. She served on the Board of Trustees of Lehigh University. She received the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Emory University in 1993, Lehigh University in 1990, and Syracuse in 2000. Contributions in her memory may be made to the Patricia M. Battin Scholarship fund, a project of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), 2221 S Clark St, Arlington, VA 22202. Please make checks out to CLIR with the memo "Patricia Battin Scholarship Fund". A Celebration of Life Service will be held at The Collington Community, 10450 Lottsford Rd., Mitchellville, MD on Sunday, June 2 at 2 p.m. in the auditorium. For more information, contact Tom Battin at pmbservice1929@gmail.com