MELVIL DEWEY

BIRTH AND DEATH

Birth: 12/10/1851     Death: 12/26/1931

OCCUPATION

scientist

BIOGRAPHY SUMMARY

Melville Louis Kossuth Melvil Dewey was an American librarian and educator who invented the Dewey Decimal system of library classification. He was a founder of the Lake Placid Club, a chief librarian at Columbia College, founder of what would later become the Columbia University School of Library Service, and a founding member of the American Library Association. Although Dewey's contributions to the modern library are widely recognized, his legacy is marred by his sexual harassment of female colleagues, as well as his racism and antisemitism.

NOTABLE WORK

Dewey Decimal Classification

WHY THEY MATTER

Melvil Dewey was intellectually unique and groundbreaking for inventing the Dewey Decimal system of library classification, which revolutionized the organization of library collections worldwide. His establishment of the Columbia University School of Library Service and founding role in the American Library Association also marked him as a pioneer in the field of library science. However, Dewey's legacy is complicated by his problematic behavior, including sexual harassment, racism, and antisemitism, which tarnish his intellectual achievements.

FAMOUS QUOTE

The librarian must be the librarian militant before he can be the librarian triumphant.The Relation of the State to the Public Library, (1889)

WIKIPEDIA PAGE

Wikipedia Page