November / December 2001 Vol. 33, no. 6

Obituary
Lachlan Farquhar MacRae

It was with regret that National Library staff learned of the death of former associate national librarian Lachlan Farquhar MacRae. He died July 2, 2001, at the age of 87, following a brief illness.

Mr. MacRae worked in public, university and research libraries for forty years. Born in Vancouver, his career started in Portland, Oregon, where he worked for the city’s library association. When Lachlan MacRae returned to Canada, he worked in the public libraries of British Columbia before moving to Ontario. An active member of the library community, he held the position of president of the Ontario Library Association for both 1949-50 and 1950-51.

In 1952, he became the Director of Defence Scientific Information Services at the Defence Research Board in Ottawa, a position he occupied until 1965. In 1956, he also served as a library consultant to UNESCO in Egypt and, in 1961, to NATO in Greece. From 1965 to 1970, he was Chief Librarian at the University of Guelph.

Lachlan MacRae joined the National Library of Canada when, in 1970, he became the first associate national librarian of Canada. He held the position until 1977, when he was appointed special advisor to the National Librarian.

To all Lachlan MacRae’s friends and family members, the National Library of Canada expresses its condolences.