Adeline Beth Zachert (November 15, 1876 – August 11, 1965) was a Russian-born American librarian, educator, and clubwoman. Zachert was based in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, for much of her career, but also worked in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and the U. S. Virgin Islands.

Early life and education

Zachert was born in Pulin in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now Pulyny in Ukraine), the daughter of Edward Gustav Zachert and Wilhelmine Rushki Zachert. Her parents were born in Poland; they were

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

missionaries in Russia. She moved to the United States with her family at the age of 12; they settled in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

Career

Zachert was a children's librarian in Louisville in the 1900s. She was Pennsylvania's state director of school libraries in the 1920s. "Any judge of

juvenile court Juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal systems, chi ...

will tell you how reading influences the adolescent boy or girl. What are we going to do about it?" she asked a New Jersey audience in 1925. She called school libraries "book laboratories" to communicate their value as dynamic, essential features of a school. In 1920 and 1921, Zachert established three libraries in the U. S. Virgin Islands as a representative 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. History 19th century ...

and the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

. She traveled in Europe in 1938. She spoke about her work and her travels at professional meetings, and at women's community groups. Zachert worked for much of her career in the Rochester Public Library system. She was head of children's services beginning in 1912, and worked to establish classroom libraries in the city's public schools, playgrounds, hospitals, and factories. She was acting city librarian in 1919. After working in the Virgin Islands and Pennsylvania, she returned to Rochester in 1927, and was supervisor of the extension division of the Rochester Public Library. Zachert helped found the Business and Professional Women's Club in Rochester in 1919, and was its first chair. She moved to

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

in 1940, and continued active as a library speaker there. She also gave talks and collected winter clothing for Russian war relief.

Publications

* "What shall we do to interesting school authorities in the value and interest of the library?" (1923) * Preface to an English-language edition of Johanna Spyri, ''

Heidi ''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published between 1880 and 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' () and ''Heidi: How She Used What She Learned'' ( ...

'' (1924)

Personal life and legacy

Zachert died in 1965, in Santa Barbara, at the age of 88. Her niece and namesake, Adeline Zachert Barber, was a writer and educator, and worked for the American Red Cross in Japan in the 1950s. Another niece, Virginia Zachert, was a psychologist with the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

and at the

Medical College of Georgia The Medical College of Georgia (often referred to as MCG) is the medical school of Augusta University, the state's only public medical school, and one of the top 10 largest medical schools in the United States. Established in 1828 as the Medical ...

. Her nephew Edward was married to another prominent librarian, Martha Jane Koontz Zachert.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zachert, Adeline 1876 births 1965 deaths American women librarians Educators from Louisville, Kentucky People from Rochester, New York People from Zhytomyr Oblast Clubwomen Librarians from Kentucky Russian women librarians