BIOGRAPHY

Dorothy Lazard was born in St. Louis and grew up in San Francisco and Oakland. She received a bachelor’s degree in English from San Francisco State University and a Master of Library and Information Studies from UC Berkeley where she began her career as a librarian in 1983. Joining the staff of the Oakland Public Library (OPL) in 2000, she was responsible for various collections including history, biography, genealogy, travel, architecture, and maps. From 2009 until her retirement in 2021, she was the head librarian of OPL’s Oakland History Center, where she hosted and delivered history lectures, mounted exhibits, and wrote articles about Oakland history. She is celebrated for encouraging people of all ages, cultures, and educational levels to explore local history.

Dorothy, who has been a committed writer for decades, holds a MFA degree in Creative Nonfiction (Goucher College). Her writing has appeared in a variety of publications including Oakland Noir; The Public Library: a photographic essay; and Oakland Heritage Alliance News. Her memoir, What You Don’t Know Will Make a Whole New World, was published in 2023 by Heyday and shortlisted for the Northern California Book Awards. History, travel, and the access to public institutions are subjects that inspire her writing.

Dorothy’s upcoming book, “Behind the Desk at the Main,” about her twenty years working as a public librarian, will be published by Heyday in August 2026.