Dorothy J. Quinlan, a retired media specialist who read thousands of books out of a combined sense of duty and unbounded curiosity, died of heart disease Wednesday at her Columbia home. She was 87.
When a bad back forced Mrs. Quinlan to quit teaching physical education in the 1950s, she threw herself into library science with a passion. To prepare herself for questions from high school students looking to check out items, she took home books by the carton every few weeks.
She loved mysteries and biographies, but she would read anything -- often staying up into the early hours of the morning.
"She felt, as a librarian, an obligation to read every book in her library so she would know what to recommend and what not to recommend," said her daughter, Jeanne A. Miles of Columbia.
Born in Cincinnati, Dorothy Jeanne Auten graduated from Marshall University in West Virginia in the late 1930s with a bachelor's degree in education. She married James A. Quinlan, a fellow education student whom she met on a college tennis court.
They moved to Ellicott City in 1946. She moved to Columbia after her husband died in 1978, a week after their 39th anniversary.
Mrs. Quinlan began teaching in the Howard County public school system in the 1950s, after working at a newspaper and at a doughnut factory, her daughter said.
She taught chemistry, math and French as well as physical education at high schools in western Howard. When her back gave out, she took a job as the librarian at Glenelg High School in 1958. In the 1960s, she moved to Atholton High School. She became the first supervisor of media services for the school system in 1969.
Also in the 1960s, Mrs. Quinlan earned a master's degree in library science from the University of Maryland.
After retiring in 1976, she kept reading voraciously and used her research skills to trace her father's family to the early 13th century. For the past decade, after moving to Vantage House in Columbia, she organized volunteers and inventory for the retirement community's store.
What she didn't have at Vantage House was a place to garden. So she was delighted when her daughter moved to a house with a yard in 1998.
"She was my gardener," Ms. Miles said. "She was over here planting things, digging holes -- she had such a ball."
A memorial service will be held June 15 at 2 p.m. at Vantage House, 5400 Vantage Point Road, Columbia.
In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Quinlan is survived by a son, James A. Quinlan Jr. of Towson; a sister, Audrey Francini of Winter Springs, Fla.; six granddaughters; and two great-granddaughters.
Contributions may be made in her name to the American Heart Association.