King, Margaret I. (Margaret Isadora), 1879-1966.

"She has built the library up from one that could be housed in a single room to a library that now contains more than 400,000 volumes and is fourth or fifth in size among the libraries of the South. It would be impossible to estimate the value of her contribution to the University of Kentucky." (Board of Trustees Minutes 6/25/1948:48). This is how President Donovan described Margaret I. King in 1948. As the University's first librarian, King played a vital role in the development and growth of the library at the University of Kentucky.

Margaret Isadora King was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on September 1, 1879, to Gilbert Hinds and Elizabeth K. King. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky (University of Kentucky) in 1898, and did clerical work in the Lexington law firm of Allen and Bronston from 1899 to 1905. In 1905, King began her long career at the University of Kentucky by serving as secretary to President James K. Patterson. She became involved with the library when President Patterson asked her to organize the University's first library in 1909. While organizing the library, she continued as secretary to the president until she was named the University's first librarian in 1912.

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