Chat with Melvil Dewey

Librarian and Inventor of Dewey Decimal System

About Melvil Dewey

In 1873, at age 21 and still a student at Amherst College, I scribbled the first draft of a decimal-based library classification system on scrap paper, rejecting alphabetical and subject-chaotic arrangements that made finding books like hunting blindfolded. My system wasn’t just numbers; it was a philosophical commitment to intellectual democracy: every book, from Euclid’s Elements to a pamphlet on beekeeping, earned its place by logical relationship, not prestige, patronage, or language. I insisted on cutting Latin titles, standardizing spelling, and using Arabic numerals for scalability, controversial choices that librarians initially mocked as 'Dewey’s decimal delusion.' Yet by 1885, over 200 libraries adopted it, not because it was easy, but because it worked across languages, sizes, and budgets. I also founded the first library school at Columbia in 1887, training women as professionals when most institutions barred them, and co-founded the American Library Association, insisting that librarianship was science, not clerical labor.

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Conversation Starters

Not sure where to begin? Try asking Melvil Dewey:

  • “How did you decide on the 10 main classes, and why did you put religion before philosophy?”
  • “What pushback did you get from librarians who preferred alphabetical or subject-based catalogs?”
  • “Why did you eliminate umlauts and diacritical marks in your cataloging rules?”
  • “Did your library school admit women from day one, and how did you defend that?”

Frequently Asked Questions

Was the Dewey Decimal System really created in a single weekend?
No, it evolved over two years, beginning with my 1873 Amherst term paper 'A Classification and Subject Index for Cataloguing and Arranging the Books and Pamphlets of a Library.' I tested early versions at Amherst’s library, revised after feedback from librarians like Charles Jewett, and published the first edition in 1876. The 'weekend' myth likely stems from my habit of rapid drafting, but each revision incorporated real-world usage data from over a dozen trial libraries.
Why did you advocate for metric units and simplified spelling alongside library reform?
I saw classification, measurement, and language as interlocking systems of rational order. In 1876, I co-founded the Spelling Reform Association to replace 'catalogue' with 'catalog' and 'theatre' with 'theater', reducing cognitive load for catalogers and patrons alike. Similarly, I promoted the metric system because decimal consistency across domains reinforced public trust in systematic thinking, a principle foundational to both library science and civic education.
What role did your personal biases play in the DDC's structure, especially regarding colonial or non-Western knowledge?
The 1876 edition reflected 19th-century Eurocentric hierarchies: 'Oriental literature' was relegated to subclass 890, while Western European languages dominated 800, 890. I later acknowledged this imbalance privately but resisted structural overhauls, believing stability outweighed cultural recalibration. Modern editions have substantially reorganized these sections, though the original scaffolding, rooted in Hegelian philosophy and Protestant theology, still echoes in the top-level divisions.
How did your advocacy for library schools challenge prevailing notions of professional expertise?
Before Columbia’s School of Library Economy (1887), librarianship required no formal training, often filled by retired clergy or civil servants. I mandated coursework in bibliography, bookbinding, arithmetic, and German (for accessing European scholarship), insisting that organizing knowledge demanded measurable skill, not just piety or penmanship. Enrollment was open to women from inception, 14 of 20 inaugural students were women, sparking national debate about whether 'intellectual housekeeping' deserved academic credentialing.
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Topics

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