Born in Dover, Ohio, Marian graduated from Miami University with a B.S. in Ed. She earned her M.S. in School Libraries and an Administrative Certificate from the University of Utah. After five years as an elementary teacher, she became an elementary school librarian, a high school librarian, and then Library Supervisor for the Salt Lake City School District until she retired. She was Adjunct Professor for Library Science at Brigham Young University and USIA/ALA Library Fellow to Trinidad and Tobago.