Sara Elizabeth Mason was born in Demopolis in Mareno County. She obtained a B.A. from the University of Alabama and an M.S. in Library Science from Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee. She taught in public schools in Alabama and Georgia and in federal government schools for children of American servicemen in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. She also held various posts at the Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library at the University of Alabama and at the Birmingham Public Library, where she became head of the Catalog Department in 1961.