About Sam W. Hitt

Sam W. Hitt (1921-2005) served the health sciences community as Director of Libraries, University of Connecticut Health Center from 1965-71 and Executive Director at Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library from 1972-76. He came to Chapel Hill as Library Director in 1976, and retired in 1986. In each of these positions Sam led a major expansion of the library's building, collections, and services. Sam was a leader in our profession in many other ways as well. He served on the Medical Library Association's Board of Directors from 1970-76, and as MLA President from 1974-75. He was an MLA Fellow, and received MLA's highest award for outstanding contributions to health sciences librarianship, the Marcia Noyes Award, in 1982. He consulted and wrote about library building design, library management and personnel, and future roles for libraries in information management.

Sam was thrilled to move to Chapel Hill so he could really indulge his love of gardening. He bought property with acres of rolling terrain, granite boulders, and mature hardwoods, which he would carve out into beds and terraces.

His primary interest was perennials, and he was influenced by Rosemary Verey and other Southern gardeners. Plantings on his property included Japanese maple specimens, rare evergreens, peonies, clematis, hostas, daylilies, rock garden plants and a beautifully maintained plot of shimmering moss.

To Sam, gardening was therapy and he would come home from the library, sit on the edge of his raised beds, and weed. At age 83, he strategically placed plastic chairs around the property so he could walk the gardens and take rests between the beds.