AustLit

'Mary Ursula O’Connor was born on 21 April 1910, one of five children of civil servant James O’Connor and his wife, Mary Alice (née Walsh). The family lived in Tooronga Road, East Malvern, a suburb of Melbourne.1 Ursula attended Catholic Ladies’ College in East Melbourne, gaining her Leaving Certificate with honours. She and school friend Freda McGlade were appointed as assistants at the Public Library of Victoria on 14 June 1927.2 They were among the Library’s earliest female employees. O’Connor studied part time for a bachelor of arts at the University of Melbourne, graduating in 1933.3 After three years in the Lending Library, she transferred to the Cataloguing Department. During the 1930s she moved to the Reference Library, maintaining the Inquiry Room’s service during the difficulties of the war years. She was appointed head cataloguer at the end of 1946.4 She was a foundation member of the Australian Institute of Librarians and an associate of its successor, the Library Association of Australia, and of the Library Association in the United Kingdom. She served on the council of the Victorian branch of the Library Association of Australia, including a period as secretary.' (Introduction)