Electra Collins Doren (December 4, 1861 – March 4, 1927) was a suffragist and

library scientist Library and information science (LIS)Library and Information Sciences is the name used in the Dewey Decimal Classification for class 20 from the 18th edition (1971) to the 22nd edition (2003). are two interconnected disciplines that deal with inf ...

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 and the county seat of Brown County, Ohio, United States, located about southeast of Cincinnati. The population was 4,453 at the 2020 census. Georgetown was the childhood home of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant. Hi ...

, 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 a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, and studied at the Library School of

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

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 Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) (pronounced ) colloquially known as the Dewey Decimal System, is a proprietary library classification system which allows new books to be added to a library in their appropriate location based on subject. ...

. 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 ...

Library School. Following the

Great Dayton Flood The Great Dayton Flood of 1913, part of the Great 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 Ohio Gener ...

(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 ...

), 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. From 1917-1920 she served as a member 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 ...

Executive Board. She also served on the ALA's War Service Committee, where she chose books that soldiers at home and in active duty could read, as well as being in charge of the financing and general direction of camp library service in America and overseas. 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 Ame ...

). 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 women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

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 Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Department of Job and Family Services ran from 1978 through 2011. The Hall has over 400 members. In 2019, the Hall's physical archives an ...

, the Ohio Library Hall of Fame and the Dayton Walk of Fame.

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 Suffragists from Ohio Librarians from Ohio American women librarians American Library Association people People from Georgetown, Ohio