[1] Ronnie was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on 12 June 1926,[2] emigrating as a child to Dunedin, New Zealand, with her family in 1937.

There she was influenced by the City Librarian, Archie Dunningham, and Dorothy Neal White (author of books on children's literature).

She was to return to university later, studying part-time and gaining a Bachelor of Arts in English, philosophy and history in 1951.

[7] Ronnie spent eight years as Head of Lending at Dunedin Public Library, a period that she regarded as one of her most productive.

Her writings included: Ronnie expressed her optimism about the future of public libraries both as a resource of printed materials but also for the opportunities afforded by digital technologies.

[19] She was conferred an honorary Doctorate of Literature (LittD) by the University of Otago in 2007,[7][20] and received a Dunedin Public Libraries Citation in 2007.