Melvil Dewey

Melvil Dewey
Melvil Dewey
Born	Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey December 10, 1851 (1851-12-10) Adams Center, New York
Died	December 26, 1931(1931-12-26) (aged 80) Lake Placid, Florida
Nationality	American
Education	Amherst College
Occupation	librarian, resort developer, reformer
Known for	Dewey Decimal Classification
Religion	Christian
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(Melvil) Dewey (December 10, 1851 – December 26, 1931) was an American librarian and educator, inventor of the Dewey Decimal System of library classification, and a founder of the Lake Placid Club. Dewey was born in Adams Center, New York, the fifth and last child of Joel and Eliza Greene Dewey. He attended rural schools and determined early that his destiny was to be a reformer in educating the masses. At Amherst College he belonged to Delta Kappa Epsilon, earning a bachelor's degree in 1874 and a master's in 1877. While still a student, he founded the Library Bureau which sold high quality index cards and filing cabinets, and established the standard dimensions for catalog cards.[1] From 1883 to 1888 he was chief librarian at Columbia University, from 1888 to 1906 director of the New York State Library, and from 1888 to 1900 secretary and executive officer of the University of the State of New York. In 1895 Dewey founded with his wife Annie the Lake Placid Club. He and his son Godfrey had been active in arranging[clarification needed] the Winter Olympics — he was chairman of the New York State Winter Olympics Committee. In 1926 he went to Florida to establish a new branch of the Lake Placid Club. He died in Lake Placid, Florida.[2] Even Dewey's friends found his personality difficult, and he early in life established a pattern of making powerful enemies.[3] As one biographer put it, "Although he did not lack friends, they were becoming weary of coming to his defense, so endless a process it had become.”[4] He was removed from his position as New York State Librarian during a controversy over policies he had instituted at the Lake Placid Club restricting membership based on race and religion.[5] Another biography refers to Dewey's "old nemesis—a persistent inability to control himself around women" as an ongoing cause of trouble on the job.[6] Dewey had been married (in turn) to Annie R. Godfrey and Emily McKay Beal[2] He is a member of the American Library Association's Hall of Fame. Dewey was a pioneer of American librarianship[7] and an influential factor in the development of libraries in America in the beginning of the 20th century.[8] He is best known for the decimal classification system that is used in most public and school libraries. But the decimal system was just one of a long list of innovations. Among them was the idea of the state library as controller of school and public library services within a state.[9] Dewey is also known for the creation of hanging vertical files, which first introduced at the Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago.[10] Dewey Decimal Classification Spine Books Label show Call Number for Dewey Decimal System. Immediately after receiving his undergraduate degree he was hired to manage Amherst's library and reclassify its collections. Dewey worked out a new scheme that superimposed a system of decimal numbers on a structure of knowledge first outlined by Sir Francis Bacon[11] Dewey copyrighted the system in 1876. This system has proved to be enormously influential; though many American libraries have since adopted the classification scheme of the Library of Congress, Dewey's system remains in widespread use. Selected publications 1876 Classification and subject index for cataloguing and arranging the books and pamphlets of a library. (Copy available at Gutenberg.org) 1885 Decimal classification and relative index for arranging, cataloguing, and indexing public and private libraries and for pamphlets, clippings, notes, scrap books, index rerums, etc. Boston, Library bureau. 1886 Librarianship as a profession for college-bred women. An address delivered before the Association of collegiate alumnæ, on March 13, 1886, by Melvil Dewey. Boston, Library bureau. 1887 Library notes: improved methods and labor-savers for librarians, readers and writers. Boston : Library bureau. 1895 Abridged decimal classification and relative index for libraries. Boston, Library bureau. 1898 Simplified library school rules. Boston, London [etc.] Library bureau. 1889 Libraries as related to the educational work of the state. Albany. 1890 Statistics of libraries in the state of New York numbering over 300 volumes. Albany 1894 Library school rules: 1. Card catalog rules; 2. Accession book rules; 3. Shelf list rules, by Melvil Dewey. 1904 A.L.A. catalog. Washington, Government Printing Office.