The Dow's losses over this year's first 12 days of trading erased nearly all of last year's gains; the pace of new home-building was, in January, reportedly at its lowest in 16 years; and recession rumblings, too, are making themselves heard. In 2007, though the economy was hardly soaring, readers would not have felt much was amiss. The year saw…

Biographical sketches of and comments from five women who have reached the top in the library field: Clara Jones, Barbara Ringer, Lillian Bradshaw, Sherrie Bergman, and Margaret Chisholm. (LS)