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HAMPTON -- Dorothy M. Little, 74, of 470 High St., Hampton, died Wednesday, Aug. 24, at the New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston, Mass., after a lengthy illness.

She was the wife of John P. Little.

Mrs. Little was born in Gloversville, N.Y., Dec. 23, 1913, the daughter of Bertha (Kunstler) Brooks of Gloversville, N.Y., and the late Harry Brooks.

Mrs. Little had been a Hampton resident since 1950, coming from Needham, Mass.

She was a graduate of Burdette College of Boston.

Mrs. Little was currently chairman of the board of trustees for the Lane Memorial Library and past president of the New Hampshire Library Trustees Association.

Mrs. Little's friends remembered her as "Mrs. Library," a woman who took to heart the cause of bettering state and local libraries. Friends such as Catherine Anderson and Jane Palmer said she was instrumental in construction of the Lane Library in Hampton.

Anderson, a retired teacher and fellow Hampton Library trustee, said Mrs. Little was crucial to the library.

"She had been on the board for many, many years and was instrumental in the realization of the dream of a new library," said Anderson. "And this was something we had wanted to take place for a long time."

"Her interest was with the long-range scope of libraries in the state, not just in Hampton," said Anderson.

Anderson said Mrs. Little "was also an active mother in all the things her two sons were involved in and that she was a woman who loved to play bridge.

"The library was her life," said fellow New Hampshire Library Trustees Association past President Jane Palmer of North Hampton. "And it is because of her that that library is there."

"She was `Mrs. Library.' Even when she was ill she spent much time there and was always working," said Palmer.

Mrs. Little was retired from the Instructional Materials Center for Supervisory School Union 21 of Hampton. She was a former member of the Hampton School Board and a former board member of the Child and Family Services for Rockingham ,County. For many years she served as chairman of the Winnacunnet High School Scholarship Foundation.

Mrs. Little was a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church and treasurer of the Church Guild.

In addition to her husband and mother, family members include two sons, Craig B. Little of Cortland, N.Y., and Brian W. Little of Bethlehem, Pa.; three grandchildren; one brother, Richard Brooks of Bethesda, Md.; two sisters, Ruth Brooks of Gloversville, N.Y., and Bertha Brooks of Herkimer, N.Y.

Memorial services will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at St. Andrews By-the-Sea Church, Rye Beach. The Rev. Robert Golledge, vicar of the Old North Church of Boston, will officiate. Friends are invited. The family requests no visiting hours and that flowers be omitted.

Memorial donations may be made to the Trustees of the Lane Memorial Library, Academy Avenue, Hampton, N.H. 03842.

Arrangements are by the Ronald A. Remick Funeral Home, 811 Lafayette Road, Hampton, N.H.

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