Melvil Dewey pushed and pestered his way right out the door of Columbia. The trustees responded to his persistence to do things ‘his way’ by closing their library school and sweeping Dewey out. Columbia was actually willing to turn away applicants, shut down the waiting list and turn their back on the program’s success in order to ditch Dewey - that is some bad blood.
Anna Elliott’s article, appropriately entitled “A Singular and Contentious Life”, explains that by the time Dewey left Columbia his library school had been emulated by other colleges - certainly his initiative (whatever his motives) was a step in the right directions for libraries and librarians. Graduates of Dewey’s program went on to found new library schools or direct them around the country. Dewey moved on to Albany in 1883 to become the Director of the New York State Library and he took his school with him, which he renamed the New York State Library School. He continued to push the envelope wherever he went and was encouraged to retire from the library world in 1906.
But the seeds of library learning had been planted and soon a seedling sprouted in Brooklyn. The Pratt Institute, which now includes five professional schools, opened 1886 as a trade school. Charles Pratt was another one of those millionaire industrialists looking for a beneficial way to spend his fortune - (we really need another one of those eras). He made his money as petroleum pioneer in 1867 and had a kerosene refinery in Brooklyn. He hit the jackpot after a few years when his company became a part of Standard Oil. Although Pratt was a successful business man and had money to burn, he always regretted not finishing his eduction, much like Andrew Carnegie.
Anna Elliott’s article, appropriately entitled “A Singular and Contentious Life”, explains that by the time Dewey left Columbia his library school had been emulated by other colleges - certainly his initiative (whatever his motives) was a step in the right directions for libraries and librarians. Graduates of Dewey’s program went on to found new library schools or direct them around the country. Dewey moved on to Albany in 1883 to become the Director of the New York State Library and he took his school with him, which he renamed the New York State Library School. He continued to push the envelope wherever he went and was encouraged to retire from the library world in 1906.
But the seeds of library learning had been planted and soon a seedling sprouted in Brooklyn. The Pratt Institute, which now includes five professional schools, opened 1886 as a trade school. Charles Pratt was another one of those millionaire industrialists looking for a beneficial way to spend his fortune - (we really need another one of those eras). He made his money as petroleum pioneer in 1867 and had a kerosene refinery in Brooklyn. He hit the jackpot after a few years when his company became a part of Standard Oil. Although Pratt was a successful business man and had money to burn, he always regretted not finishing his eduction, much like Andrew Carnegie.
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| photo from Pratt livejournal |
According to The Cycopaedia of American Biography, published in 1918, Charles Pratt was a visionary with a big heart. His determination to make the world a better place led him down many paths including the design of a model tenement and a banking system for people to accumulate their savings (called The Thrift). He was a little more practical than Carnegie and dreamed of creating a school where students could learn to work with their hands and to appreciate “the value of intelligent manual labor”. The Pratt Institute continues to fulfill that mission today and is driven by the motto: “be true to your work and you work will be true to you”. In addition to schools for kindergarten training and household science, they offered a library science program. The website actually lays claim to the title of the oldest LIS school in North America, having been accredited since 1923 when the system for accreditation first began. Sadly Pratt died only four years after beginning his school and the his son, Frederic, became the president. In a founder’s day speech from 1890 Pratt revealed his altruistic character when he told students, “care not for your enjoyment, care not for your life, care only for what is right.” That’s a motto worth living up to.
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