Brenda Moon (1931-2011)

Brenda Moon was chief librarian at the University of Edinburgh and had a clear vision of the transformative effects of digitisation. In 2019, the boardroom in Argyle House was named the Brenda Moon Boardroom, in recognition of her achievements.

Brenda Elizabeth Moon was appointed chief librarian of the University of Edinburgh in 1980, becoming the first woman to hold such a post in Scotland, and one of the first in a major UK research library. In her 16 years in the role, she was a pioneer, bringing the library into the late 20th century with a clear vision of the transformative influence digitisation would have on libraries. She led Edinburgh to be among the first UK libraries to deliver a computer-based service.

Shortly before coming to the University of Edinburgh in 1980, Brenda travelled to Canada to investigate online automated systems. There were no automated records in the University of Edinburgh library catalogue at the time of her appointment, but by the time she retired there were over a million.

During her time at the University of Edinburgh, Brenda also reinvigorated the special collections, paving the way for the service the library now provides. She played a major role in bringing in collections including the papers of modern Scottish poets such as George Mackay Brown, Norman MacCaig and Hugh MacDiarmid, and materials on WH Auden.

Moon held a lifelong personal research interest in writing about women travelers. While working in Edinburgh, she wrote a thesis about Marianne North for her MPhil at Leeds University. After retiring, she attained a PhD for a thesis on Amelia B. Edwards which was later published as a book, "More Usefully Employed: Amelia B. Edwards, Writer, Traveller, and Campaigner for Ancient Egypt". 

She worked closely with the Friends of Edinburgh University Library and remained passionate about the future of libraries throughout her life. In 2019, the Boardroom at Argyle House was named the Brenda Moon Boardroom, in recognition of her achievements. 

To learn more, visit: Brenda Moon Wikipedia article

At Edinburgh she has led the Library staff in developing a system which is the admiration of many other universities... [the online catalogue] is an integral part of the University’s information systems and... provides the University with one of its most visible shop-windows to the world...