Electra Collins Doren (December 4, 1861 – March 4, 1927) was a suffragist and library scientist who started the United States' first book wagon service. She was the longtime director of the Dayton Public Library and Museum in the early 20th century.

Early life and education

Electra Collins Doren, often referred to as Electra C. Doren, was born on December 4, 1861 in

Georgetown, Ohio Georgetown is a village in Brown County, Ohio, United States located about 36 miles southeast of Cincinnati. The population was 4,331 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Brown County. Georgetown was the childhood home of Ulysses S. Gra ...

, to John Gates and Elizabeth (Bragdon) Doren.Herringshaw, Thomas. ''Herringshaw's American Blue Book of Biography: Prominent Americans of 1915''. American Publishers Association, 1915, p. 381. She graduated from the Cooper Female Seminary in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

, and studied at the Library School of

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

Career

Doren began work at the Dayton Public Library (later known as the Dayton Public Library and Museum, and now known as

Dayton Metro Library Dayton Metro Library is a multi-branch library system serving 531,687 residents of the Dayton Metropolitan Area. It has 19 locations across the area (as well as two bookmobiles). Almost 5.8 million items were borrowed in 2018. The Dayton Metro Li ...

) in 1879. In 1897, she became the library's director ("Librarian") and instituted a number of new programs, including a school library department, a library training school and a reorganization that saw titles for the first time filed using the Dewey Decimal System. The institution of the Dewey Decimal System opened the library for public use for the first time and allowed for the country's first book wagon service, which took books to rural areas of the community. Doren left Dayton in 1905 and became the first director of the

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

Library School. Following the

Great Dayton Flood The Great Dayton Flood of 1913 resulted from flooding by the Great Miami River reaching Dayton, Ohio, and the surrounding area, causing the greatest natural disaster in Ohio history. In response, the General Assembly passed the Vonderheide Act to ...

(part of the

Great Flood of 1913 The Great Flood of 1913 occurred between March 23 and March 26, after major rivers in the central and eastern United States flooded from runoff and several days of heavy rain. Related deaths and damage in the United States were widespread and ext ...

), she returned to Dayton as head Librarian, where she aided library staff in recovering items damaged by the flood, allowing the library to reopen just three months after the flood waters receded. During her two terms as head Librarian, a position she held until her death in 1927, she expanded the collection from 36,000 books to 185,000 and increased the budget from $64,000 to $225,000. During World War I, she was a member of the Committee of the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

, where she chose books that soldiers at home and in active duty could read. Doren later founded the Ohio Library Association, serving for a year as its president, and was a vice president with the

Death and legacy

She died on March 4, 1927. Upon her death, her younger sister, Elizabeth B. Doren (DPL's Head of Acquisition), took over as Acting Librarian until a new Librarian was hired (

Paul North Rice Paul North Rice (February 9, 1888 – April 16, 1967) was an American librarian who served as Chief of the Reference Department of the New York Public Library, Executive Secretary of the Association of Research Libraries and President of the Ameri ...

). The Electra C. Doren branch library of the Dayton Metro Library system (once shortened as "E.C. Doren") is named in her honor.Dayton Metro Library locations - Electra C. Doren
/ref> The branch was renovated starting in 2014 as a result of a community support bond passed in 2012. As a suffragette, Doren collected materials related to

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

for her library work, which later formed the basis for the Dayton Metro Library's Women's Suffrage Collection, which hosts the largest collection of materials on the topic in the United States. For her efforts related to suffrage and libraries, she was inducted into the

Ohio Women's Hall of Fame The Ohio Women's Hall of Fame was a program the State of Ohio's Department of Job and Family Services ran from 1978 through 2011. The Hall has over 400 members. In 2019, the Hall's physical archives and online records were transferred to the ...

, the

Ohio Library Hall of Fame Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

and the

Dayton Walk of Fame Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

Writing

* "Public Library Work for Public Schools", ''Journal of Proceedings and Addresses of the Forty-Second Annual Meeting Held at Boston, Massachusetts July 6–10, 1903''. National Education Association (1903). * "The Library and the School: Work Now Done", ''Papers and Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth General Meeting of the American Library Association held at Niagara Falls, NY June 22–26, 1903''. American Library Association (1903).

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doren, Electra Collins 1861 births 1927 deaths American suffragists American librarians American women librarians American Library Association people People from Georgetown, Ohio Activists from Ohio