Within the field of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Mary Fleming Zirin stands out as a beacon of strength and hope to students, faculty, librarians, and independent scholars. It is impossible to summarize Mary’s extraordinary contributions to the development of Slavic and East European Women’s Studies. As a bibliographer, Mary introduced significant number of scholarly sources on women and gender, which are now standards in the field. These include Dictionary of Russian Women Writers (1994), Women & Gender in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, and Eurasia: A Comprehensive Bibliography (2007), and Women East-West Current Bibliography through the Association for Women in Slavic Studies. Her tireless advocacy on behalf of independent scholars, who are in constant need of access to collections and services, continues to this day.
To ensure continued support for independent scholars and Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Mary established an endowment to support the Slavic Reference Service at the University of Illinois. The Slavic Reference Service continues Mary’s work and this bibliography is a testament of our dedication to her principles on scholarship and access to information.