Sister Mary Dorothy Neuhofer, O.S.B., Endowed Scholarship

Sister M. Dorothy Neuhofer, OSB, PhD, was a 1949 graduate of Holy Name Academy, member of the Benedictine Sisters of Florida, professor, university archivist, and special collections librarian at the Daniel A. Cannon Memorial Library, past prioress of Holy Name Monastery, and a life-long resident of the local Saint Leo area. Before accepting a position as a faculty librarian with Saint Leo College in 1965, she taught in a number of parochial schools in Florida. While serving as principal of a new school in Venice, Florida, she founded a school library. Immediately following she enrolled in library school for a Master’s degree in library science. As a member of the Saint Leo library faculty, Sister Dorothy worked in a number of library positions including Reference Librarian, Catalog Librarian, Director of Reader Services, Library Director, Director of Library Services, (serving students both on and off campus), Archivist and Special Collections Librarian. She worked for the university for a remarkable 50 years, and was honored for that special milestone in August 2015.In the late 1960s and the early 1970s she edited the weekly library newsletter and also initiated a program of library instruction classes. In the 1980s she served as committee chair for planning a major expansion of the library building. Through her pioneering efforts, Saint Leo gained charter membership in the Tampa Bay Library Consortium, a multi-type library consortium.