When Margaret Bush graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in English (as the first and only member of her family to attend college), she set out on a path to share knowledge with others. Working in a science library for a short time after graduation, Margaret went on to earn a master’s degree in library science at UC Berkeley. Her career in the library field has been very long and far-reaching. She began as a children’s librarian in the New York Public Library and went on to work in public and college libraries in Illinois, at the Library of Congress and Howard University in Washington D.C., and as a professor at the Graduate School of Library Science at Simmons College. She retired in 2009 after 49 years in the library field and academia, during which time she shared her professional leadership across the country, speaking, writing, consulting, and participating in workshops. 

She recalls her early foray into science; despite starting out with no scientific background, she quickly became familiar with science materials by serving on a science books replacement list at the New York Public Library and working as a reviewer for two scientific journals. Her appreciation for science also brought her to the Museum. “I had enjoyed visits and memberships at science and natural history museums as a resident of New York City, Chicago, and Washington DC, so when I moved to Boston I was happy to visit the Museum of Science.” For several years now, Margaret has served on the Children’s Science Book Awards committee of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. One of her favorite memories at the Museum is sharing her incredible breadth of knowledge in both scientific and children’s literature as a panelist on a Museum of Science program for parents and teachers of preschool children in 2008.

Margaret decided to support the Museum through a Charitable Gift Annuity in 2013. Reflecting on her connection to the Museum, Margaret shared, “I particularly valued the annual thank you events for donors held for several years after I did my annuity. These luncheons featuring programs about the work of the Museum really made donors feel well acquainted with, and a real part of, the institution.” She urges other Museum supporters to consider a gift that provides a guaranteed income stream for life, saying “Charitable gift annuities can be a very special combination of contribution and investment that can be done with fairly modest sums of money.” Thank you, Margaret!