Melvil Dewey

Melvil Dewey (1851 - 1931)

Born in Adams.

He attended Amherst College, later was chief librarian at Columbia University and then director of the New York State Library.

While working as an assistant librarian at Amherst he devised the system of classifying and cataloging books by decimal number now called the "The Dewey Decimal System". He also was as an innovator and ideal-maker concerning other aspects of the library system. Melvil Dewey is also known for the creation of hanging vertical files which first premiered at the Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. In 1895 Dewey founded, with his wife Annie, the Lake Placid Club at Lake Placid.

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