Dorothy Lazard is the retired head librarian of the Oakland History Center and an author. She has been such a great resource for history lovers that she has her own fan club on social media, #DorothyLazardFanClub.
Lazard was born in St. Louis but grew up in San Francisco and Oakland. She joined the Oakland Public Library in 2000, and was head of the history center from 2009 until her retirement in 2021.
She wrote a book about her experience moving west and growing up in the Bay Area, What You Don't Know Will Make a Whole New World: A Memoir. It was published in 2023 by Heyday books. Dorothy says: "support your local bookstore!"
In 2022, she was awarded the Partners in Preservation Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oakland Heritage Alliance. In 2023, she was given the Oscar Lewis Award for outstanding contributions in the field of Western history by the Book Club of California.
Links and References
- What You Don't Know Will Make a Whole New World by Dorothy Lazard, Heyday Books, 2023
- Dorothy Lazard's Blog Oakland Public Library
- Dorothy Lazard, Recently Retired Head Librarian of the Oakland History Center, on Shining a Light on a City's Untold Stories KQED Forum January 17, 2002
- The beloved head librarian of the Oakland History Center is retiring Oaklandside December 20, 2021
- What You Don't Know Will Make a Whole New World: A Memoir Walden Pond Books
