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Mary Cutler Fairchild
Mary Cutler Fairchild was a pioneer in the field of library science. She started her career in librarianship when Melvil Dewey (founder of the Dewey Decimal System) hired her as a cataloguer at Columbia. She followed him to Albany, NY where she would train some 500 students in librarianship. In 1904, Mary would call out the disparities faced by women in the American Library Association (ALA), including a pay wage gap, little representation at ALA, and a lack of administrative responsibilities. -
Tessa Kelso
Tessa Kelso was a prominent librarian for the Los Angeles City Library. She enacted many changes that were considered radical for the time. She abolished membership fees and established a library-training program, one of the first in the nation. She was a believer that libraries should be accessible to the public and advocated for open stacks and extended weekend hours. In her short time, she was able to turn the LACL into a true metropolitan library that others in the country could emulate. -
Mary Wright Plummer
Mary Wright Plummer was a pioneer in library education and children's librarianship. After graduating from Melvil Dewey's first class on librarianship, she joined the Pratt Institute Library School and turned it into the second library school in the country. As director, she designed the first separate children's room in the country and established that children's librarians should have specialized training. She also served as the second female president of the American Library Association. -
Adelaide Hasse
Adelaide Hasse created the system for classifying government documents that is still in use today. During her time at the U.S. Government Printing Office, she developed the Superintendent of Documents Classification System. Over her 55-year career, Adelaide made a significant mark on the field as a library assistant, indexer, cataloguer, classifier, bibliographer, editorial analyst, and author. She faced discrimination as a female librarian which ultimately led to her losing her job. -
Theresa Elmendorf
Theresa Elmendorf was the first woman elected to be president of the American Library Association (ALA). Beforehand, Theresa worked her way up at the Milwaukee Public Library to become the head Librarian in 1892. This made her the first woman to direct a public library of a large city in the United States. It took over thirty years since the founding of the ALA to elect a woman. After her historic appointment, she said "Now is the time for all good men and true to come to the aid of the party." -
Sadie Peterson Delaney
Sadie Peterson Delaney was a pioneer in the field of bibliotherapy and was chief librarian at the Veterans Administration Hospital Library in Tuskegee, Alabama for 34 years. She used bibliotherapy to work with doctors to use books to heal mental and physical wounds. She worked with patients that were mentally ill, disabled, and blind. She was an advocate of giving the patients individual attention in order to learn their interests. Her ingenious work brought worldwide recognition and acclaim. -
Regina Anderson Andrews
Regina Andrews was the first African American woman to lead a New York Public Library branch. At age 21, she moved to New York City to become a librarian at the New York Public Library's 135th St Branch at the height of the Harlem Renaissance. During her time at the NYPL, she brought writers, artists, and thinkers to Harlem. Throughout her 43-year career, she often faced discrimination. Eventually, she would become the first Black Supervising Branch Librarian at the 115th St branch in 1938. -
Eliza Atkins Gleason
Eliza Atkins Gleason was the first African-American to receive a doctorate in Library Science. She was born on December 15, 1909. After earning two bachelor's and a master's degrees, Eliza also became head librarian at the Municipal College for Negroes in Louisville, KY. Upon receiving her Ph.D., she established the Atlanta University School of Library Service, also serving as its first Dean. She also became the first African American to serve on the Council of the American Library Association. -
Jean Blackwell Hutson
Jean Blackwell Hutson was an African-American librarian and activist. She curated the Schomburg Collection for Research in Black Culture, which is now an international research institution. Over 32 years, she amassed an archive of documents, books, and works of art that reflected the experience of African-Americans and people of African descent. The library grew from 15,000 volumes to 75,000 volumes and became the world's main public repository of materials on people of African descent. -
Henriette Avram
Henriette Avram developed the MARC format (Machine Readable Cataloging) and revolutionized the library card catalog system worldwide. While working for the Library of Congress, she created MARC, which expanded interlibrary loan programs and allowed people to look at automated card catalogs on computers. Within a decade of her invention, most libraries in the country had converted to the automated system. Her innovations enabled libraries to exchange information more quickly than ever before.