Helen E. Haines

Helen E. Haines (1872–1961) was instrumental in the development of the library science profession, though she herself never worked as a librarian or earned a professional degree. Born in the late Victorian period and educated privately, she worked in publishing after being turned down for a library job.^[1] As a protégée of Charles Cutter, she became the managing editor of Library Journal in 1896. She also served as an officer of the American Library Association.^[2] In 1906, however, her health broke down, and she eventually had to leave both positions and relocate to southern California.^[3] For her service to librarianship, Andrew Carnegie awarded her an annual pension.^[4]

Haines recovered her health and established herself as a library educator, writer, and activist in two key areas: support for popular fiction and for intellectual freedom. In 1935, she published Living with Books: The Art of Book Selection, which became a definitive library school text.^[5] One contemporary review, while praising Haines' "shrewd and discriminating observation, … acute and illuminating criticism," nevertheless complained that "there is a fearful lot of junk in some of her suggested lists of books".^[6] Perhaps the review was objecting to Haines' eclectic tastes; in a 1924 article, for instance, she advocated for "a rounded and representative collection, for readers of varied tastes, sophisticated as well as simple".^[7] In her annotated bibliography of Haines' work, Mary Robinson Sive notes that likewise, Haines' 1942 work What's in a Novel "did not receive unqualified critical acclaim because of its disregard of purely literary criteria".^[8]

Haines continued to write widely and to advocate for libraries to feature modern fiction and a broad collection. Her career, however, became mired in controversy when she published a second edition of Living with Books in 1950. Initial reviewers were positive about this edition, which was explicit in its opposition to censorship.^{[9] [10]} In the popular press, however, Haines was denounced as pro-Soviet; largely undefended by others in the profession, she withdrew into retirement.^[11] She received the Joseph W. Lippincott Award in 1951, but ceased publishing. She died in 1961.^[12]

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