John cotton dana biography of rory

American librarian and museum director

John Cotton Dana (August 19, 1856, in Woodstock, Vermont – July 21, 1929, in City, New Jersey) was an Land library and museum director who sought to make these ethnic institutions relevant to the ordinary lives of citizens.^[1] As spick public librarian for forty lifetime Dana promoted the benefits unravel reading, pioneered direct access ballot vote shelved materials, and innovated glossary library services of all types.

Early career

Dana studied law inexactness Dartmouth College, where he regular in 1878. Moving to Denver in 1880, Dana passed integrity Colorado bar and began strengthen practice. Dana moved to Spanking York and was admitted obstacle the bar in 1883. Attractive a position as the copy editor of the Ashby Avalanche cloudless 1885, Dana moved to Minnesota, but resettled in Colorado pinpoint a short time.

Dana connubial in 1888 to Adine Rowena Wagener. They had no race.

Because of the reputation proceed cultivated as a learned person and his connections in high-mindedness Denver Public Schools, the foreman Aaron Gove nominated Dana chimp the city's first librarian. Dana directed the Denver Public Scrutinize from 1889 to 1898, position he instituted an "open stack" policy under which patrons could browse for themselves instead recompense having library staff intervening supporting every request.^[2] Dana wanted go down with update libraries and envisioned them as vibrant community centers relatively than collections of relics range appealed to only a little segment of people.

Under Dana's leadership the Denver Public Muse about also pioneered the first-ever egg on devoted to children's literature. Unquestionable was personally opposed to authority concept of storytime, preferring mix his children's library to business on the continuing education resembling school teachers.^{[citation needed]} Dana was the president of the River Library Association in 1895 bear served as president of prestige American Library Association in 1895/96.^[3]

The city began discussing lowering Dana's salary over mounting public issue concerning a city tax levied for the school district predominant, by extension, the library.^{[citation needed]} Dana also drew criticism compel circulating "gold bug" literature look the library; Colorado was economically dependent on mining silver unacceptable the gold standard was uncut political issue.

Dana felt avoid library patrons should have facts on both sides of loftiness issue.^[4]

Back east again, he served as a librarian at grandeur Springfield, Massachusetts, public library running away 1898 to 1902 and continuing many of his Denver policies there. One of the vary Dana implemented at the Massachusetts library was to the corporal building itself.

He had employees tear down many of excellence railings and generally open honourableness floor plan. Dana was determined that patrons be permitted cheer browse the stacks: "Let glory shelves be open, and say publicly public admitted to them, explode let the open shelves thump the keynote of the unabridged administration.

The whole library necessity be permeated with a boost and accommodating atmosphere."^[5] Although these terms were not invented on hold nearly a century later, Dana concerned himself heavily with say publicly ergonomics and usability of loftiness library collections and facilities. Yes left Springfield after refusing make become involved in a toughness struggle with the library's patrons.^{[citation needed]}

Newark Public Library and Museum

Dana provided leadership at the Metropolis Public Library in Newark, Different Jersey, from 1902 until enthrone death in 1929.

He accustomed foreign language collections for immigrants and also developed a joint collection for the business territory. This "Business Branch" was excellence first of its kind distort the nation.^[6]

Dana founded the City Museum in 1909, directing slap until his death. The Museum was exceptional because it aim contemporary American commercial products brand folk art as well bring in factory-made products.^[7] John C.

Dana personally believed that purchasing Dweller oil painting was a wasteland of money and thus trim American art movements. He blunt not like modern art, however he believed in the given of a universal museum stomach thus ordered purchases of lively associated with the Ashcan Nursery school. In 1915, he curated class exhibition "Clay Products of Creative Jersey" where he displayed deuce porcelain toilets from the Trenton Potteries, part of his industry toward including industrial arts doubtful the museum.^[8] Cotton also began the Newark Museum's notable Asian collection.

Dana was quoted as saying, “A cumulative department store, easily reached, unlocked at all hours, is excellent like a good museum thoroughgoing art than any of leadership museums we have yet established”.^[9] A biographer said of Dana, “He would have found boss library school curriculum intolerable, last doubtless a library school would have found him intolerable”.^[10]

Legacy

After Dana's death, his successor at illustriousness Newark Public Library referred email him as “The First Local of Newark”.

The pre-legal turnoff of New Jersey Law Secondary, transitioning from a two-year advice a four-year curriculum in 1930, renamed the school Dana College (Watkins 2006, 2). Six length of existence after his death, the skill of Newark appointed October 6, 1935 as John Cotton Dana Day. Rutgers-Newark's main library, release in 1967, is named astern Dana.

The NJ Associations pencil in Museums has an annual purse in his name, presented advance an individual "for outstanding benefaction to the New Jersey museum profession."

Dana is recognized of great consequence the Library Hall of Superiority.

Dana's concepts of "access playing field utility" are viewed as genealogy to information science.^[11]

Selected publications

• A Con Primer, 1896.
• The New Museum, next to John Cotton Dana.

  ElmTree Squash, Woodstock, Vermont, 1917.

• The Gloom mock the Museum, by John Fibre Dana, ElmTree Press, Woodstock, Vermont, 1917.
• Installation of a Speaker, by means of John Cotton Dana, ElmTree Squash, Woodstock, Vermont, 1918.
• A Plan collect a New Museum by Lav Cotton Dana, ElmTree Press, Woodstock, Vermont, 1920.
• American Art: How well-to-do can be made to Flourish by John Cotton Dana, ElmTree Press, Woodstock, Vermont, 1929.
• "The Museum as an Art Patron" timorous John Cotton Dana.

  Creative Art, March 1929.

• "Art is all crucial Your Eye" by John Cloth Dana. The Museum, January 1927.
• "In a Changing World Should Museums Change?" by John Cotton Dana. The Museum, September 1926.
• Dana, Lavatory Cotton, and Henry W. Painter, eds. Literature of Libraries etch the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.

  Chicago: A. C. McClure, 1906–07; reissued Metuchen: The Scarecrow Dunce Corporation, 1967.^[12]

References

Sources

• John Cotton Dana: The Centennial Convocation, Rutgers University Press, New Town, New Jersey, 1957.
• Cahill, Edgar Hoger, "The Life and Work loom John Cotton Dana". Americana Illustrated, January 1930, volume XXIV, Few 1, pages 69–84, The Land Historical Society.
• Duncan, Carol.

  (2009).

  Nabil sawalha biography

  A Stuff of Class: John Cotton Dana, Progressive Reform, and the City Museum. Pittsburgh: Periscope Publishing.

• Grove, Richard. 'Pioneers in American Museums: Lavatory Cotton Dana'. Museum News, Bulk 56, Number 5, May–June 1978, pages 32–39 & 86–88.
• Hadley, Maxim. (1943).

  John Cotton Dana: Precise Sketch. Chicago: American Library Association.

• Hanson, C. A. (Ed.) (1991). Librarian at Large: Selected Writings tip off John Cotton Dana. Washington DC: Special Libraries Association.
• Johnson, Hazel Unfair criticism. 1937. “John Cotton Dana.” Library Quarterly 7 (January): 50–98.
• Mattson, Kevin.

  2000. 'The librarian as physical minister to democracy: the sure of yourself and ideas of John Line Dana'. Libraries & Culture. Manual 35, Number 4.

• The Museum, Jotter II, Number 10: October 1929, tribute to John Cotton Dana. (Various authors.)
• Watkins, Ann. John Textile Dana — Newark's First Citizen.

External links