MARTHA HELLER GOULD

Dynamic lifelong librarian was forward-looking, committed to community

By pursuing a thorough education in librarianship, Martha Heller Gould nurtured her career and leadership in her field as well as in local Reno politics. She worked in many different types of libraries and promoted the development of digital technology in libraries.

Martha Heller, born October 8, 1931, grew up to be a woman to be reckoned with. She was born in Claremont, New Hampshire, to parents Gertrude Quint and Sigmund Heller. Her birth provided Hannabelle Heller with a new sister. The family appeared close and had the means to have a 19-year-old servant in the household at the time of Martha’s birth. Her parents were second-generation Americans having immigrated to the United States from Russia (father’s parents) and Poland (mother’s parents).

She attended schools in Claremont and online high-school records show her to have been active in her school community. As a senior, she was in the choir, the senior play, was on the yearbook staff and the school newspaper staff as well as a member of the junior librarians. In 1949, she graduated from Stevens High School and went on to join her sister at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. After obtaining her B.A. which included “a lifetime teaching credential,” she made her way to Hanover, New Hampshire, where she had obtained employment in the Dartmouth College Library. She learned she would need a graduate degree in library science to further her library career and subsequently enrolled at Simmons College, a private university in Boston, Mass. After graduation, she found employment at the New York City Library and that same year she relocated to Oklahoma to develop a bookmobile program with the state library on the Osage Indian Reservation. A search of newspapers.com reveals a very active Martha Heller giving talks, giving interviews and promoting the Osage Bookmobile in many towns throughout the area. The Hominy News Republica announced on September 24, 1959, “Martha Heller resigns as county librarian. She has accepted a post as field librarian for northern New Mexico with headquarters in Santa Fe, New Mexico.”

In 1959, while working in New Mexico and attending a concert, Martha Heller met Arthur Gould, a film producer from Los Angeles, and her life took a dramatic change. Soon after, she and Arthur were married in Stamford, Connecticut, on July 29, 1960, and she returned with Arthur to the Los Angeles area. Martha immediately found employment with the Los Angeles Public Library system and spent the next 12 years working throughout their vast library system. She moved from librarian to senior librarian and on March 28, 1968, was named Director of all Children’s Library activities in the eastern portion of the San Fernando Valley. She had worked as a children’s librarian in North Hollywood, Studio City, Panama City and Sherman Oaks since 1960. During this time, she and Arthur become parents of a son, Stephen Alexander, who joined Arthur’s other two children Leslie and Geoffrey from a former marriage. 

In 1972, it was time to say goodbye to southern California and move to Reno, Nevada where Arthur had been offered a position at the University of Nevada teaching television newscasting and this, in addition to Martha’s asthma, was the impetus for the move to Nevada.  Martha’s superb librarian credentials immediately netted her a position with the Nevada State Library. She spent a few years working in Carson City but then an opportunity at the Washoe County Library became available and she took it.  She was now in Reno, Nev., her new hometown, initially working as deputy director. Martha now had experience and gravatas and Washoe County was the beneficiary of her honed abilities in librarianship, leadership and civic activism.

Martha worked as deputy director of the Washoe County Library System for 10 years before being appointed to director where she served for 15 years more. She fought some tough battles while delivering library services to the citizens of Washoe County.  There were always budget concerns which resulted in services reduced or cut altogether, there were “banned books” outbreaks, demographics that caused services to decline in some county libraries but surge in others. The main central downtown library, once cited as most beautiful by the First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, became a homeless and transient resting place during the day and ultimately those individuals had to be banned from the library which meant having to hire guards to prevent their entrance.

She was ahead of her time in ensuring that her libraries entered the digital age. On April 5, 1976, the Nevada State Journal reported Martha Gould expressed the opinion that libraries were more than just books. They were “information” centers and it appeared she worked to ensure the libraries under her jurisdiction were just that.

In 1995, Martha retired as director of the Washoe County Library System. The Reno Gazette-Journal printed a quote from County Manager John MacIntyre about Martha Gould. “You can’t shine Martha on; you’ve got to engage. She means business and she gets business done.”  That quote seems to be an accurate description of Martha Gould.

She ran for mayor of Reno but on June 7, 1995, the results gave her opponent, Jeff Griffin, the mayorship. Her credentials far outshone Mr. Griffin’s but in 1989, it was truly a man’s world. In October of that year, her husband Arthur passed away after a 35-year marriage.

Martha didn’t stop. During the next 20 years, Martha continued to be a force in Washoe County and in the nation. The Reno Gazette-Journal frequently designated Martha as a Silver Pen Award opinion writer for “exceptional” letters to the editor which were published in the Opinion section. She served on a multitude of boards in the Reno community. In 1993, President Clinton appointed her to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Sciences. where she served as vice chair.  She was reappointed in 1998 and in 2000 was designated chairperson.

On May 18, 2002, the Reno Gazette-Journal announced that ex-library director Martha Gould would go to China “to teach the Chinese about digital library technology.” She was ahead of her time in ensuring that the residents of Washoe County were introduced to and able to use the new online technologies emerging in libraries.

Her libraries had encompassed both the new and the old. Washoe County was very fortunate to have had Martha Gould at the helm during a very transformative period in its history.

In 2015, Martha Gould moved to Golden, Colorado, to be near her son, Stephen, and his family. She faded from Reno’s history. On January 26, 2025, there was a two-line death notice in the Reno Gazette-Journal noting  “Martha Gould, 93, passed peacefully the evening of January 2, 2025, at her home in Golden, Colorado.”  Individuals that saw the notice responded with notes like:

“Your life had great meaning for so many. You did well. Thank you, Martha Gould. You are missed. RIP;” and “Thank you for all you did for our community;” and “Martha was a wonderful advocate for children & the library community. A great loss;” “Martha was a major figure in Reno politics and the library community. May her memory be a blessing;” and “Martha was an inspiration to me and to so many others. Not just in the library field, but in politics, music and life in general. She will live on in her many good deeds and in our hearts.” One individual noted in her comments, “I cannot believe that she does not have a proper Obituary honoring her contributions to the Reno community and social environment.”

Martha Gould is buried in the Hebrew Cemetery, in Reno, Nevada with her husband, Arthur. As of 2026 she does not yet have a headstone.

Selected Organizations
American Civil Liberties Union
Board of Trustees, Food Bank of Northern Nevada
Chamber of Commerce Education Committee
Citizens’ Advisory Board to the Academically Talented
City of Reno Planning Policy Advisory Committee
Governor’s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust
Governor’s Committee on Nevada Workforce Agencies
KUNR Advisory Board, member and chair
National Conference of Christians and Jews
Nevada Women’s Fund
Nevada Women’s History Project
Reno’s Citizens’ Policy Advisory
Sierra Nevada Community Access Television
Task Force on Quality-of-Life Indicators
Temple Sinai Sisterhood
Vice Chair Holocaust Memorial Museum
Washoe Couty Budget Planning Committee
Washoe K-16 Council

Partial List of Awards
1981 – Winner of the Nevada Civil Rights Libertarian of the Year
1989 – Association of University Women, For Freedom’s Sake
1989 – Nevada Women’s Fund Hall of Fame for leadership
1992 – Soroptimist International/Truckee Meadows Woman of Distinction
1993 – Librarian of the Year
1994 – Public Administrator of the Year,
Included in the 50^th Edition of Who’s Who in America.

Appointments
1989 – Chair of the Governor’s Conference for Women, appointed by Governor Richard Bryan.

1993-2003 – National Commission on Libraries and Information Sciences, vice chair appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993 and served under both Clinton and President George W. Bush. In 2000, she was appointed chair.

Researched and written by Marcia Bernard Cuccaro, 2026. Posted August 2016.