A Classification and Subject Index for Cataloguing and Arranging the Books and Pamphlets of a Library

Melvil Dewey

Melville Louis Kossuth "Melvil" Dewey was an American librarian and educator who invented the Dewey Decimal system of library classification. He was a founder of the Lake Placid Club, a chief librarian at Columbia College, founder of what would later become the Columbia University School of Library Service, and a founding member of the American Library Association. Although Dewey's contributions to the modern library are widely recognized, his legacy is marred by his sexual harassment of female colleagues, as well as his racism and antisemitism.