Dr. Mary K. Chelton, a retired professor in the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at CUNY Queens College, passed away on August 28 at her home in Patchogue, NY. Chelton was a champion of books, authors, readers, libraries, and our profession. In 1978, she cofounded Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA), a platform to support those working with young adults and help them navigate the burgeoning number of authors, titles, challenges, and opportunities for serving these readers.

In 1995, she was the first librarian to be named Librarian of the Year by the Romance Writers of America, recognizing all that she did to dispel the myths surrounding this once-underappreciated genre. In 2016, her work advocating for and advancing effective readers’ advisory service earned her NoveList’s Margaret E. Monroe Library Adult Services Award from ALA’s Reference and User Services Association.

Chelton believed in the power of research to advance practice, and she knew that inspired, dedicated teaching was the best way to ensure that new findings made their way into our libraries and media centers. These many accolades and accomplishments are not Chelton’s legacy, however; her legacy rests with those of us who were taught, mentored, and changed through our connections to her, her writings, and her presence. The best tribute we can offer to this legend of the library profession is to make sure our ongoing work is guided by her belief that the value of books does not reside only in the volumes themselves but also in what readers do with the books in front of them.

Duncan Smith is the cofounder of NoveList and a leading voice in the field of readers’ advisory service. He earned his master’s in library science from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and worked closely with Chelton across a range of readers’ advisory programs and projects.