Claribel Ruth Barnett (March 26, 1872 – ) was

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

of the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

from July 1907 until her retirement in November 1940.

Early life

Claribel Ruth Barnett was born on March 26, 1872, in

Kent, Ohio Kent is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the largest city in Portage County, Ohio, Portage County. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio on the western edge of the county. The population was 28,215 at the 2020 United States ...

, to George and Lucina (Deuel) Barnett. She attended Kent High School and from 1887 to 1889,

Western Reserve Academy Western Reserve Academy (WRA), or simply Reserve, is a private, midsized, coeducational boarding and day college preparatory school located in Hudson, Ohio, United States. A boarding school, Western Reserve Academy is largely a residential ...

. From 1889 to 1893 she attended the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, where she received her bachelor's degree. She later received a library science degree from

New York State Library School The New York State Library School was a school of library science. Melvil Dewey established the school at Columbia University. Many of the school's records are currently held at Columbia University. In 1889, it was moved to Albany, New York to bec ...

. She moved to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, in 1895.

Career

Barnett moved to Washington, D.C., in 1895 to take up the position of

cataloger In library and information science, cataloging ( US) or cataloguing ( UK) is the process of creating metadata representing information resources, such as books, sound recordings, moving images, etc. Cataloging provides information such as aut ...

with the USDA; she would later become the assistant librarian to Josephine A. Clark, department librarian at the time, in 1901. In 1907, she was appointed Clark's successor after leaving the library to take up the post of librarian at

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

. Barnett took one of the first federal library exams opened to women. She would be the third professional head of the Library (with training) at the USDA. Initially, Barnett had been apprehensive to take the position as the success of female leaders in the USDA often struggled based depending upon the views of the current

Secretary of Agriculture The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments The department includes several organiz ...

. James "Tama Jim" Wilson, secretary at the time, asked her to accept the position and reassured Barnett that she had his support. While Barnett worked to improve library services for USDA employees, she also tried to connect the agricultural libraries of the United States and around the world in order to better serve all patrons. While there was no legislative directive to requiring cooperation between the USDA library and Land Grant Institutions, and other college libraries, Barnett nonetheless created opportunities for partnership, collaboration, and sharing. In 1910, she organized and chaired the first meeting 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 ...

's (ALA) Agricultural Library Section; Claribel Barnett wanted to ensure that librarians in agricultural libraries had a place and voice within the association. The Agricultural Library Section's proceedings and papers were published through the association's publication, while gatherings of the group would take place during ALA meetings. Barnett served as chair for the first four years of the section, and again in 1927. Under Barnett in the 1930s, the

National Agricultural Library The United States National Agricultural Library (NAL) is one of the world's largest agricultural research libraries, and serves as a national library of the United States and as the library of the United States Department of Agriculture. Locate ...

would pioneer the use of microfilm. She increased the staff to around 170 and the budget to around $11 million. Under Barnett's leadership the library increased in both size and scope, population multiple branch libraries among the various bureaus of the department and increasing the collection to over 250,000 books and pamphlets.

Awards and honors

Barnett founded the Agricultural Libraries Section of the American Library Association in 1911.

Publications

* ''Catalogue of Publications Related to Forestry in the Library of the United States Department of Agriculture,'' 1912, National Agricultural Library (U.S.)

Memberships

* College Women's Club *

American Association of University Women The American Association of University Women (AAUW), officially founded in 1881, is a non-profit organization that advances Justice, equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. The organization has a nationwide Social net ...

* American Library Association * ALA Board of Resources of American Libraries * D.C. Library Association, second vice-president, 1919-1920 Positions Held President from 1921–22 and Chairman of both the Oberly Memorial Fund Committee (1923-1934) and Agricultural Libraries Section(1910–14, 1927) for the

Death and legacy

Claribel Ruth Barnett died on 6 March 1951 in Washington, D.C. Claribel Barnett had warm relationships with her employees, who gifted her with a silver service for six upon her retirement. She facilitated the work of her younger cousin Elizabeth Gilmore Holt in her research for the initial volume of ''A Documentary History of Art'' through her intellectual support and her care for Elizabeth's five year old daughter, and left her estate to Elizabeth Holt on her death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, Claribel Ruth 1872 births 1951 deaths 20th-century American librarians 20th-century American women librarians Western Reserve Academy alumni United States Department of Agriculture people University of Michigan alumni People from Kent, Ohio Librarians from Ohio