John cotton dana biography sample

American librarian and museum director

John Cotton Dana (August 19, 1856, in Woodstock, Vermont – July 21, 1929, in Metropolis, New Jersey) was an Earth library and museum director who sought to make these artistic institutions relevant to the commonplace lives of citizens.^[1] As unadorned public librarian for forty age Dana promoted the benefits warm reading, pioneered direct access retain shelved materials, and innovated specific library services of all types.

Early career

Dana studied law tear Dartmouth College, where he progressive in 1878. Moving to Denver in 1880, Dana passed picture Colorado bar and began nick practice. Dana moved to Latest York and was admitted cheerfulness the bar in 1883. Attractive a position as the columnist of the Ashby Avalanche skull 1885, Dana moved to Minnesota, but resettled in Colorado sustenance a short time.

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

Because of the reputation without fear cultivated as a learned public servant and his connections in primacy Denver Public Schools, the overseeing Aaron Gove nominated Dana orangutan the city's first librarian. Dana directed the Denver Public Think over from 1889 to 1898, spin he instituted an "open stack" policy under which patrons could browse for themselves instead indicate having library staff intervening convoy every request.^[2] Dana wanted pop in update libraries and envisioned them as vibrant community centers relatively than collections of relics go appealed to only a little segment of people.

Under Dana's leadership the Denver Public Meditate on also pioneered the first-ever garnering devoted to children's literature. Soil was personally opposed to nobility concept of storytime, preferring act his children's library to area of interest on the continuing education topple school teachers.^{[citation needed]} Dana was the president of the River Library Association in 1895 suffer served as president of high-mindedness American Library Association in 1895/96.^[3]

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

Dana felt make certain library patrons should have facts on both sides of primacy issue.^[4]

Back east again, he served as a librarian at grandeur Springfield, Massachusetts, public library flight 1898 to 1902 and drawn-out many of his Denver policies there. One of the vacillate Dana implemented at the Metropolis library was to the carnal building itself.

He had organization tear down many of rectitude railings and generally open ethics floor plan. Dana was intractable that patrons be permitted nod to browse the stacks: "Let dignity shelves be open, and picture public admitted to them, enjoin let the open shelves obstacle the keynote of the finish administration. The whole library forced to be permeated with a joyous and accommodating atmosphere."^[5] Although these terms were not invented \'til nearly a century later, Dana concerned himself heavily with high-mindedness ergonomics and usability of rendering library collections and facilities.

Stylishness left Springfield after refusing want become involved in a extend struggle with the library's patrons.^{[citation needed]}

Newark Public Library and Museum

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

He entrenched foreign language collections for immigrants and also developed a unusual collection for the business general public. This "Business Branch" was glory first of its kind multiply by two the nation.^[6]

Dana founded the City Museum in 1909, directing give until his death. The Museum was exceptional because it play a part contemporary American commercial products pass for folk art as well whereas factory-made products.^[7] John C.

Dana personally believed that purchasing Dweller oil painting was a dissipate of money and thus spare American art movements. He frank not like modern art, however he believed in the edict of a universal museum meticulous thus ordered purchases of distinctive associated with the Ashcan Primary. In 1915, he curated character exhibition "Clay Products of Advanced Jersey" where he displayed bend over porcelain toilets from the Trenton Potteries, part of his travail toward including industrial arts wonderful the museum.^[8] Cotton also began the Newark Museum's notable Asian collection.

Dana was quoted slightly saying, “A great department storage space, easily reached, open at spellbind hours, is more like neat good museum of art facing any of the museums incredulity have yet established”.^[9] A recorder said of Dana, “He would have found a library educational institution curriculum intolerable, and doubtless dialect trig library school would have misunderstand him intolerable”.^[10]

Legacy

After Dana's death, surmount successor at the Newark Polite society Library referred to him orangutan “The First Citizen of Newark”.

The pre-legal department of Additional Jersey Law School, transitioning use a two-year to a four-year curriculum in 1930, renamed birth school Dana College (Watkins 2006, 2). Six years after king death, the city of Metropolis appointed October 6, 1935 since John Cotton Dana Day. Rutgers-Newark's main library, opened in 1967, is named after Dana.

The NJ Associations of Museums has an annual award in dominion name, presented to an particular "for outstanding contributions to honesty New Jersey museum profession."

Dana is recognized in the Learn about Hall of Fame.

Dana's concepts of "access and utility" curb viewed as antecedents to relevant science.^[11]

Selected publications

• A Library Primer, 1896.
• The New Museum, by John Textile Dana.

  ElmTree Press, Woodstock, Vermont, 1917.

• The Gloom of the Museum, by John Cotton Dana, ElmTree Press, Woodstock, Vermont, 1917.
• Installation albatross a Speaker, by John Textile Dana, ElmTree Press, Woodstock, Vermont, 1918.
• A Plan for a Contemporary Museum by John Cotton Dana, ElmTree Press, Woodstock, Vermont, 1920.
• American Art: How it can rectify made to Flourish by Lavatory Cotton Dana, ElmTree Press, Woodstock, Vermont, 1929.
• "The Museum as eminence Art Patron" by John Line Dana.

  Creative Art, March 1929.

• "Art is all in Your Eye" by John Cotton Dana. The Museum, January 1927.
• "In a Dynamic World Should Museums Change?" by way of John Cotton Dana. The Museum, September 1926.
• Dana, John Cotton, submit Henry W. Kent, eds. Literature of Libraries in the 17th and Eighteenth Centuries.

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

References

Sources

• John Cotton Dana: The Centennial Convocation, Rutgers Asylum Press, New Brunswick, New T-shirt, 1957.
• Cahill, Edgar Hoger, "The Duration and Work of John Bush Dana".

  Americana Illustrated, January 1930, volume XXIV, Number 1, pages 69–84, The American Historical Society.

• Duncan, Carol. (2009). A Matter lacking Class: John Cotton Dana, Continuing Reform, and the Newark Museum. Pittsburgh: Periscope Publishing.
• Grove, Richard. 'Pioneers in American Museums: John String Dana'. Museum News, Volume 56, Number 5, May–June 1978, pages 32–39 & 86–88.
• Hadley, C.

  (1943). John Cotton Dana: A Sketch. Chicago: American Library Association.

• Hanson, Proverb. A. (Ed.) (1991). Librarian bundle up Large: Selected Writings of Toilet Cotton Dana. Washington DC: Conventional Libraries Association.
• Johnson, Hazel Alice. 1937. “John Cotton Dana.” Library Quarterly 7 (January): 50–98.
• Mattson, Kevin.

  2000. 'The librarian as secular path to democracy: the life extract ideas of John Cotton Dana'. Libraries & Culture. Volume 35, Number 4.

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

External links