Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey
AKA Melville Dewey, Melvil Dewey, Melvil Dui
American Librarian and Educator
Explore Melville Dewey
Timeline
Melville Dewey
Born in Adams Center, New York
December 10, 1851
Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey was born to a general store owner, Joel Dewey, and his wife in Adams Center, New York.
Moved to Onieda, New York
January 1, 1869
Dewey's family moved to Oneida, New York, where he attended a Baptist Seminary.
First Library Position
1872
Dewey was a student Amherst College and began working in the library and founded the Library Bureau which created the standard dimensions for library cards.
Graduated from Amherst College
1874
He was hired by Emherst College to reclassify their collection using his technique based off of earlier work done by Sir Frances Bacon.
Dewey Decimal System
1876
Dewey published A Classification and Subject Index for Cataloging and Arranging Books and Pamphlets in a Library.
Moved to Boston
1876
He founded the American Library Association, the American Metric Bureau and the Spelling Reform Association. He advocated phonetic spelling as a way to streamline reading and writing. It is due to his advocacy of streamlining reading and writing that he changed the spelling of his name to "Melvil Dui."
Marriage
1878
He married Annie Godfrey. During their marriage they had one child, Godfrey Dewey.
chief librarian at Columbia University
1883
He combined all of
Columbia University's libraries and he added more books than in the previous 130 years of the university's history, including his ideas of library management, starting free lectures, and opening the library to women.
New York's Librarian
1888
Dewey became New York's state librarian. He also supervised their college library programs, training new librarians in his methods.
Lake Placid, New York
1895
The Lake Placid Club was a social and recreation club founded in a hotel on Mirror Lake in Lake Placid, New York. The Lake Placid Club excluded Jews and other socially stigmatized groups during most of its existence.
Wife's Death
1922
Dewey's wife died.
Dewey remarries
1924
Dewey married for a second time to Emily McKay Beal, vice president and manager of the Lake Placid Club in New York.
Lake Placid, Florida
1926
Dewey created a southern branch of The Lake Placid Club in Lake Stearns, Florida. The town was renamed Lake Placid as a result.
Death of Melvil Dewey
December 26, 1931
Melvil Dewey, while living in Lake Placid, Florida died from a stroke.
Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey
Biography
Birth
Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey was born on December 26, 1851 to a general store owner, Joel Dewey and his wife in Adams Center, New York.
Growing Up
In order to earn money when he was young, Dewey, split wood, pastured cows and did other chores for farmers. He saved his earnings until he had enough to buy an unabridged dictionary. He walked ten miles to Watertown, N.Y. to buy it. When Dewey was 14 years old his family moved to Oneida, New York. Here he attended a Baptist Seminary. He knew early on that he wanted to reform education of the masses.
Education
After attending the Baptist Seminary, Dewey earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Amherst College, where he began his first library position. After graduation he was hired by Amherst to reclassify their collection.
Achievements
During the 1870’s Dewey was a student Amherst College and began working in the library and founded the Library Bureau which created the standard dimensions for library cards. In 1874, he was hired by Emherst College to reclassify their collection using his technique based off of early work done by Sir Frances Bacon. Dewey published A Classification and Subject Index, for Cataloging and Arranging Books and Pamphlets of a Library. In 1876 he founded the American Library Association, the American Metric Bureau and the Spelling Reform Association, advocating phonetic spelling as a way to streamline reading and writing. It is due to his advocacy of streamlining reading and writing that he changed the spelling of his name to "Melvil Dui." In 1883, he combined all of Columbia University’s libraries and he added more books than in the previous 130 years of the university's history, incorporating his ideas of library management, starting free lectures, and opening the library to women. In 1888, Dewey became New York's state librarian. He also supervised their college library programs, training new librarians in his methods.
In 1895, the Lake Placid Club was a social and recreation club founded in a hotel on Mirror Lake in Lake Placid, New York. The Lake Placid Club excluded Jews and other groups during most of its existence. Later, in 1926, he created a southern branch of The Lake Placid Club in Lake Stearns, Florida. The town was renamed Lake Placid as a result.
Death
Melvil Dewey died from a stroke on December 26, 1931 at the age of 80. He is predominantly known for the Dewey Decimal Classification, the most widely used library classification system in the world.
Contributions to Libraries Around the World
Dewey was the Head of the University of the State of New York.
He was the inventor of the Dewey Decimal System of library classification, which is used in more than 150 countries throughout the world.
He established the Lake Placid Club as a resort for workers in education.
He created the American Library Association, the American Metric Bureau and the Spelling Reform Association.
He started The Library Journal.
Melville Dewey
A library's function is to give the public in the quickest and cheapeast way information, inspiration, and recreation. If a better way than the book can be found, we should use it.
The Dewey Decimal Rap
Mr. Scooter
Personal Reflection
Dewey has to be one of the most recognized librarian luminaries, due to his invention of the Dewey Decimal System. Although I have known his name since I was a child, it is not until this assignment that I was able to fully understand his life and career. I have come to realize that Dewey is greatly responsible for ours libraries and how they function today.
I was surprised to learn of his involvement with Lake Placid, New York and the Lake Placid Club. However, I was disappointed in the fact that he was a racist and anti-Semitic by limiting membership to the club .
Citations and Resources
- About Melvil Dewey (1851-1931) The Dewey Program at the Library of Congress. Retrieved from http://www.loc.gov/aba/dewey/about-dewey.html
-Wayne A. Wiegand. "Dewey, Melvil". American National Biography Online. Retrieved from http://www.anb.org/articles/09/09-00229
- “Dr. Melvil Dewey Dead In Florida.” The New York Times, 26 Dec. 1931, www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1210.html.
- How one library pioneer profoundly influenced modern librarianship. Retrieved from https://www.oclc.org/en/dewey/resources/biography.html
- 2004 @ your libraryTM desk calendar created by the Arkansas Library Association
- How one library pioneer profoundly influenced modern librarianship. Retrieved from https://www.oclc.org/en/dewey/resources/biography.html
- Roemer, H. B. (2015) Melville Dewey (poem), Journal of Children’s Literature, 41 (Spring), pp. 43.
-Biography.com Editors. Melvil Dewey Biography.com. (2017)Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/people/melvil-dewey-9273516
IMAGES
http://libguides.ala.org/NationalLibrarySymbol
VIDEO