Posted on 06/30/2019 4:10:48 PM PDT by reaganaut1
American librarians have voted to remove the name of Melvil Dewey, widely seen as the father of modern librarianship, from one of their top awards, citing his history of antisemitism, racism and sexual harassment.
The council of the American Library Association (ALA) passed a resolution this week to rename its top professional award, the Melvil Dewey Medal. The resolution explains that Dewey did not permit Jewish people, African Americans or other minorities admittance to the resort he owned, the Lake Placid Club. He also “made numerous inappropriate physical advances toward women he worked with and wielded professional power over” and was ostracised from the ALA after four women accused him of sexual impropriety, the resolution continues, declaring that “the behaviour demonstrated for decades by Dewey does not represent the stated fundamental values of ALA in equity, diversity, and inclusion”.
Dewey was one of the founders of the ALA. In 1876, he published A Classification and Subject Index for Cataloguing and Arranging the Books and Pamphlets of a Library, which outlined what would become known as the Dewey decimal classification – a system which is now used by libraries throughout the English-speaking world. He was director of the New York State Library from 1889 to 1906, when pressure from petitioners outraged at the exclusion of Jews from his resort forced his resignation. In Dewey’s biography, Irrepressible Reformer, Wayne Wiegand recounts 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”.
Writing in the ALA’s magazine American Libraries last June, editor-at-large Anne Ford described how early biographies of the librarian called him a “genius” and “a prophet pointing forward to a glorious promised land”.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
When are they going to re-name all of Senator Byrd’s buildings?
Given what the libraries are up to these days, they’ll probably name all their awards after famous pedophiles.
However, Mel does seem to have had a problem about women and boundaries:
Another biography refers to Dewey’s “old nemesis—a persistent inability to control himself around women” as a chronic cause of trouble on the job.[30] For decades, Dewey engaged in “unwelcome hugging, unwelcome touching, certainly unwelcome kissing” with women subordinates and others, according to biographer Wayne A. Wiegand. When Dewey opened his School of Library Economy at Columbia College to women it was rumored that he asked for their bust sizes with their applications. Though the rumor turned out to be false he did require a photograph from each female applicant since “you cannot polish a pumpkin” In 1905 during a 10-day trip to Alaska sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA), a group he co-founded, he made unwelcome advances on four prominent librarians who informed Association officials. As a result, Dewey stepped down from active participation in the ALA.[32] Reports, allegations, and an investigation of Dewey’s inappropriate and offensive behavior directed at women continued for decades after his departure from ALA. In 1930, he paid $2,000 to settle a lawsuit by a former secretary alleging sexual harassment.
America’s communist cultural revolution continues. Hell, Dewey was one of them up to his eyeballs. Them throwing him overboard is like Stalin getting rid of Trotsky.
Never give up your guns. The bastards will come for us eventually when they get power
What’s the new name?
Librarians must’ve been different way back when. lol
Ok....so nobody born before 2019 can ever have anything named for them??
Uh huh. Where do these self righteous people stand on Margaret Sanger?
Happy Birthday to Melvil Dewey, perhaps the most famous librarian of all time.
He was born December 10, 1851. In addition to the classification system that carries his name, he was one of the founders of the American Library Association and he founded The Library Journal, which is still published today.
He was also a champion of spelling reform, which accounts for the unusual spelling of his first name.
https://widenerlibrary.tumblr.com/post/104850618843/happy-birthday-to-melvil-dewey-perhaps-the-most
Just to point out the obvious - they always have eaten their own. Just look at what happens in communist countries. They’re all far leftist in there and even the rightest will say they support socialism as more fair than capitalism but those in power will change definitions and terms and shift the rules so they’re “more woke” than the others.
There!
That's your problem right there. If he'd only gone after little boys, there wouldn't be a complaint against him today; hymns would be sung about him.
Since they are getting rid of all printed books-— this is part of the process.... eliminate historical memory and historical content.
BASIC tenet of Communism. He who controls the past/history controls the future. And guess how—it’s done through instant media to instant dumba@@es who question nothing, accept the crap as true.
Elimination of reading and books, of any kind— straight out of Farenheit 451.... Ray Bradbury’s book of the State consficating and destroying all books.... for the good of .... the People. Because books require thought and are too disturbing to the sheeple. Better make sure your family has the real books that teach... download them or buy them... now.
I guess we have to rename the decimal system as well?
Alphabetical order is racist to people with an average 80 IQ.
That was quick
I’m sure he’s decimalated now...
...Where do these self righteous people stand on Margaret Sanger...
She & Robert Byrd became role models for Hellary.
Librarians do it in stacks— they are so repressed.
This entire article is so silly as to be ridiculous. Rename an award... like the Laura Ingalls Wilder award for children’s literature changed because the didn’t have blacks in her books written about US prairie settlers (who were-— overwhelmingly... white people— but no matter, have to have a representative where does it stop).
This is plainly cultural marxism mixed with idiotic puritanical tut-tut-ism and crazed virtue signalling. Destroying the book reading world with their mind numbing pantie wadding upsettypies. Assuring no one will read— not real books about real people anyway- including horny academics, because they of course don’t exist today (see: pedophile profs, and male/female rapists... yes, they do).
I await the global movement to rescind awards and rename streets and awards in honor of MLK.
I await the global movement to rescind awards and rename streets and awards in honor of MLK.
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