To the people that knew her best, Betty Jean “BJ” Busch was irrepressible.
“She stood just 4 feet 10 3/4 inches tall, " said her daughter, Lorraine Vance. “People towered over her for her entire life but she was a big personality." Tenacious, adventurous, fearless, funny — this is how her family remembers her.
And while Busch had a highly successful career as a librarian, one that included head librarianships at the University of Alberta Library and presidencies at more professional associations than her family can easily name — the focus of her family's gift in her memory is her early work as a cataloger at the University of Michigan Library.
They've decided to create the Betty Jean Busch Library Fund for student catalogers, and hope that others who understand the impact of this work — on the students performing it and the users that benefit from it — will join them in supporting it.
“Working as a cataloger opened windows to the world for BJ,” said her husband Robert Busch. “Researching and understanding the items in order to create their catalog records often leads to places of knowledge and insight that you wouldn't get in other ways through other work.”
He hopes this new fund will allow more students to find what she did in cataloging — a reinforced love of books and libraries, lifelong research skills, and exposure to a wide range of ideas, cultures, and languages.
The beginning
Busch earned two degrees from the University of Michigan, a bachelor’s in 1965 and a Master of Library Science in 1966, and spent the first two years of her professional life working as a cataloger at U-M. From there she served as the head of a library at a women’s academy in Adrian, Michigan.
The years that followed saw the family — BJ, Robert, and their daughters Lorraine, Allison (who died in 2019), and Madeline — navigating two academic careers and family life in Germany and France, with BJ Busch often a step ahead of her husband in finding positions.
That changed when Robert Busch accepted a faculty position at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada (he's now professor emeritus of Modern Languages and Comparative Studies).
BJ Busch became a cataloger at the University of Alberta Library, and within a few years was named head librarian at two of its most prominent divisions. She also served as the library's representative on the faculty governance organization, and in 1987 was elected its president, a notable achievement at a time when over 80 percent of the faculty was male.
Lasting benefits
Robert Busch and his daughters hope that the student beneficiaries of the new fund will find inspiration and lifelong curiosity in the work, qualities that will bring a lifetime of benefits.
“I was a cataloger early in my career, and I can personally attest to how that work can broaden your understanding of the world,” said Dean of Libraries Lisa Carter.
Carter also said this opportunity for students will contribute to a core aspect of the library’s mission. While cataloging is often invisible to people who use library collections, it’s vital to making the materials in them discoverable and accessible.
"The impact of gifts to the Betty Jean Busch Library Fund are expansive and lasting, both for the students who are the direct beneficiaries, and for the countless students and researchers who will benefit from the work they do."
Robert Busch couldn't agree more. “The work is really about getting those books and research materials into the hands of the people who need them.”