Melvil Dewey is widely regarded as the father of modern librarianship and co-founded the American Library Association, however, librarians across America have voted to have his name removed from the Melvil Dewey Medal award due to his antisemitism, racism and sexual harassment.
The American Library Association (ALA) recently passed a resolution to rename the award after reviewing Dewey’s behaviour and attitudes. The resolution is available to read and highlights his racism, sexism, and indecent behaviour. Dewey did not allow minorities such as Jewish people or African Americans to visit a resort he owned called the Lake Placid Club. It goes on to read that he also “made numerous inappropriate physical advances toward women he worked with and wielded professional power over.”
As The Guardian reports, Dewey’s behaviour was noted in his own lifetime, and he was excluded from the ALA after four women accused him of sexual misconduct, which eventually saw him stepping away from the ALA. The resolution concludes that “the behaviour demonstrated for decades by Dewey does not represent the stated fundamental values of ALA in equity, diversity, and inclusion.”
In 1876, Dewey published ‘A Classification and Subject Index for Cataloguing and Arranging the Books and Pamphlets of a Library,’ which became known as the Dewey decimal classification system, a system which went on to be adopted by most libraries throughout the English-speaking world. He served as director of the New York State Library from 1889 to 1906, but was forced to resign following outrage over his decision to exclude Jewish people from his resort.
In his biography Irrepressible Reformer: A Biography of Melvil Dewey, library historian Wayne A. Wiegand writes how Los Angeles Public Library head librarian Tessa Kelso wrote in a 1924 letter that “for many years women librarians have been the special prey of Mr Dewey in a series of outrages against decency.”
ALA’s editor-at-large, Anne Ford, wrote: “To be clear, no one we spoke with is calling for Dewey to be wiped from the history books. Nor are they suggesting that his accomplishments be disregarded. Still, more than 20 years after Dewey’s misconduct was laid bare in Irrepressible Reformer, public acknowledgments of his racism and sexism remain rare.”
Editor of Public Libraries News, Ian Anstice, stated that Dewry’s behaviour created “some difficulties” among librarians, as the system he devised is still widely used. “It would be difficult to scrap it and odd to change its name,” he said, “but such things as simply renaming an award absolutely should be done. Dewey is in the past now and should not be someone that is unquestionably looked up to. His behaviour should be questioned and responded to appropriately, like we would with anyone else.”
A new name for the award is yet to be announced by the ALA, but this isn’t the first time the American Library Association has opted to change the name of an award due to an author’s behaviour. The Children’s Literacy Legacy Award was once known as the Laura Ingalls Award, but this name was dropped due to concerns over The Little House on the Prairie author’s “stereotypical” portrayal of Native Americans and African Americans.
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