Ebling Library receives many book donations a year from retiring practitioners, researchers and clinicians, ideally hoping that the books are of use to our collections. The majority of them are usually duplicates of those we currently have, but sometimes a bit of gold is struck, and we can not only share textbooks with others, but add books to our collections, constituting a win for all. We all prefer such a scenario to employing a recycling bin; people’s lives spent collecting books on their specialty is such a heartfelt endeavor.
Such was the case with Drs. Barbara (retired) and Ronald (Ron) Klein (deceased August 31st, 2019) who were affiliated with UW-Madison’s Department
of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. Also, Professor Julie Mares, who also recently retired from the Department, had books to share.
Ron and Barbara made seminal contributions to our understanding of the epidemiology of vision science and inspired a generation of ophthalmologists
and epidemiologists globally. As a nutritional epidemiologist, Mares not only concerned herself with researching ways to slow disease but also looks for ways to prevent it.
Collectively, they donated about 150 books, mostly textbooks, handbooks, and reference books, on epidemiology, nutrition and health, statistical methods, observational & field epidemiology, vitamins, diabetes, geriatric health, etc. Ebling will be adding about a third of the titles to our collections, including a rather unusual Diet Lifestyle & Mortality in China (1989). Classics like Epidemiology & Prevention by Schottenfeld & Fraumeni (1996), and At the Bench, A Lab Navigator by Kathy Barker (1998), will go out to the informal book give away area, just outside of Ebling’s entrance. The Kleins and Mares would be delighted at how the students, faculty and staff find “forever” homes for older material.
Thank you, Drs. Klein and Mares…book lovers are grateful for your generosity.
A full obituary can be found on Ron Klein, M.D. in the journal, Ophthalmic Epidemiology.
Pictured: The additional books set out for “adoption,” and History of the Health Sciences Librarian Micaela Sullivan-Fowler receiving the boxes from the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. Thanks to Adenine Si Hui Koo for verifying Ebling’s ownership of the books.
