Renée Becker Swartz, a U.S. presidential appointee, devoted alumna, and transformative influence in both state and national libraries, died this spring at the age of 91. Those who had the privilege of being close to Swartz remember her as a dear friend and “innovator of the first order,” someone who turned her love of reading into a lifelong celebration of books and the spaces that hold them.
Born in Newark, New Jersey and raised in the small town of Keyport, Swartz found books to be windows to other worlds — introductions to lives, cultures, and modes of being she would never otherwise know. Ambitious from the start, she graduated high school as valedictorian of her class at the precocious age of 16, arriving at Barnard around the same time she earned her driver’s license.
Just like reading fiction, attending Barnard opened up her world. In class, she learned alongside students from across the U.S. and far-flung countries, women whose upbringings bore little resemblance to her own. This was a revelation. After earning her degree in European Studies and returning to New Jersey, Swartz, known to friends as “Bozzi,” made it a point to continue to engage with her alma mater, even as her career bloomed.
Swartz was integral to the creation and development of the Monmouth County Library System. In the 1960s, after becoming a parent, she worked tirelessly to bring the area its first library building. Charming locals at train and bus stations, she collected upwards of 10,000 signatures to bring to neighborhood officials as proof of demand for more than just a bookmobile. It was both an educational and social imperative, she argued: libraries ensure that citizens have equal access to information, regardless of means and circumstances.
“Renée smiled while telling everyone that a library is a community’s center and a corner store for the mind,” said Betty Turock, former president of the American Library Association, which named Swartz “Library Trustee of the Year” in 1991. “Everything the mind needs should be as easy and as readily available as going to the corner store.”
From the first branch in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, MCLS grew to a thriving network of 14 member libraries under Swartz’s tenure as Commission Chair, a position she held for 44 years. For Swartz, it was never just about books. She envisioned — and brought to life — libraries as places that facilitated music, dancing, fitness, and professional development. When computers were brought to the public domain, Swartz was central to strategic decisions around how to enable access to the internet and electronic books.
Those working on the national level took note of Swartz’s local impact and greater vision for libraries, including her establishment of the New Jersey Center for the Book and spearheading of the New Jersey State Library Advisory Council. She held a number of national appointments, representing Barnard at the Department of State's Women in Public Service Colloquium and serving on the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services Board.
Loved ones remember that Swartz cherished Barnard her entire life. From 1981 to 1984, she proudly served as President of the Alumnae Association, and from 1981 to 1985 she was a member of the Board of Trustees. Her service was central to crucial decisions about the future of the College, including the matter of Barnard’s institutional independence as Columbia began admitting women in 1983. In 1985, Swartz earned the Columbia Alumni Medal in recognition of her distinguished service.
“When I think about my mom, I think about living a life of purpose, and her desire to make the world a better place,” said her daughter, Addie. Swartz maintained a life rich with joy through her final years — arranging flowers, participating in multiple book clubs, taking strolls on the ocean boardwalk, and dancing at her eldest granddaughter’s wedding at the age of 90. In the summers, she liked to host lunches for incoming first-years alongside local alumnae, welcoming them to the Barnard community.
To discover a bit of adventure and magic today, one needs only to walk through the doors of the Eastern branch of MCLS in Shrewsbury. There, visitors can enter thousands of new worlds kept safe in the hands of the Renée Becker Swartz Children’s Library.
Published in the Summer 2026 issue of Barnard Magazine with the headline “Honoring Renée Becker Swartz ’55, Champion of American Libraries."