Melvil Dewey
| Melvil Dewey | |
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| Born | Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey December 10, 1851 Adams Center, New York |
| Died | December 26, 1931 (aged 80) Lake Placid, Florida |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Amherst College |
| Occupation | librarian, resort developer, reformer |
| Known for | Dewey Decimal Classification |
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Melville Louis Kossuth (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.
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Biography
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.
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 and later modified by William Torrey Harris. He copyrighted the system in 1876.
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 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.[1]
Even Dewey's friends found his personality difficult, and he early in life established a pattern of making powerful enemies.[2] 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.”[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]
Dewey married (in turn) Annie Godfrey, Emily Beal,and Michaela Butler. He is a member of the American Library Association's Hall of Fame.
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.
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (Eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Further reading
- George Grosvenor Dawe (1932). Melvil Dewey, Seer: Inspirer: Doer, 1851–1931. Lake Placid Club, N.Y.: Melvil Dewey Biography.
- Wayne A. Wiegand (1996). Irrepressible Reformer: A Biography of Melvil Dewey. Chicago: American Library Association.
External links
- Works by Melvil Dewey at Project Gutenberg
- What's so great about the Dewey Decimal System?—contains biographical information
- "Melvil Dewey dead in Florida", The New York Times, December 27, 1931.
- Library Bureau founded by Dewey in 1876.
- Children of the Code - Dewey on Spelling Reform (including online video excerpts)
- Works by or about Melvil Dewey in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Melvil Dewey at Find a Grave
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