William Frederick Poole (24 December 1821,

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

– 1 March 1894) was an American

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

and

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

Biography

He graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

in 1849, where he assisted John Edmands, who was a student at the Brothers in Unity Library. Poole succeeded Edmands' position at the library and in 1848, while still a student, published his own 154-page index to periodical literature. A 524-page edition was published in 1853, and a third 1469-page edition in 1882. He was assistant librarian of the

Boston Athenaeum Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...

in 1851, and in 1852 became librarian of the Boston Mercantile Library. From 1856 to 1869 he was librarian of the Boston Athenaeum, where he inspired the careers of Charles Evans, William I. Fletcher, and Caroline Hewins. Poole was a pioneer in the public library movement. He was the first librarian of the Cincinnati Public Library from 1869 to 1873, where he successfully introduced the idea of opening the library on Sundays, and the first librarian of the

Chicago Public Library The Chicago Public Library (CPL) is the public library system that serves the City of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. It consists of 81 locations, including a central library, two regional libraries, and branches distributed throughout the ...

from 1873 to 1887. Poole built the initial Chicago collection in part through persuading friends in the academic community across the United States to donate volumes. It did not hurt that his appeal suggested many books had perished in the

great Chicago fire of 1871 The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...

, even though the disaster had occurred two years before the city had begun a library. Poole capped his career as librarian of the Newberry Library, a private research institution, from 1887 to 1894. Poole designed the building, which still stands at 60 West Walton Street. While he was a moving force in the modern library movement, Poole's ideas ultimately put him on the wrong side of history. Poole believed each collection was unique and that librarians should design a building and catalogue system to fit his collection. The name of his contemporary, Melvil Dewey, is attached to the idea of standardizing classification. Poole served as president 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 ...

, and also as president of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

. He was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...

in 1877.

Works

*''An alphabetical index to subjects, treated in the reviews, and other periodicals, to which no indexes have been published'', 1848 *''An index to periodical literature'', 1853
''Cotton Mather and Salem Witchcraft''
1869 *''Anti-slavery opinions before the year 1800'', 1873 *''The ordinance of 1787, and Dr. Manasseh Cutler as an agent in its formation'', 1876Sabin, 64047 *''Poole's Index to Periodical Literature'', 1888 *''Columbus and the Founding of the New World'', 1892

References

External links

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at Newberry Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Poole, William Frederick 1821 births 1894 deaths American librarians 19th-century American historians 19th-century American male writers American bibliographers Presidents of the American Historical Association Presidents of the American Library Association Writers from Salem, Massachusetts Yale University alumni Members of the American Antiquarian Society Burials at Harmony Grove Cemetery Historians from Massachusetts American male non-fiction writers Chicago Public Library