John Pendleton Kennedy (May 17, 1871 - February 23, 1944) was the first State Librarian for the Commonwealth of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. He also served as the first President of the

Virginia Library Association The Virginia Library Association (VLA) is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is "to develop, promote, and improve library and information services, library staff, and the profession of librarianship in order to advance literacy and learning a ...

, which was organized in the first State Library building in Capitol Square on December 6, 1905. Kennedy graduated from the German Lutheran school in

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in Ohio County, West Virginia, Ohio and Marshall County, West Virginia, Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The county seat of Ohio County, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mo ...

in 1888. After graduation, he spent five years in the Corps of Engineers and in 1895 he went to work as a civil engineer in Wheeling, West Virginia. From 1898 to 1903 he was employed at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. In 1903, he was called to Richmond, Virginia to lead the State Library of Virginia. At the State Library, he introduced the concept of a "

traveling library A traveling library is a collection of books lent for stated periods by a central library to a branch library, club, or other organization or, in some instances, to an individual. The chief characteristics from which it derives its name are its temp ...

" and established a Department for history and archives. Kennedy was responsible for publishing a number of volumes of historical manuscripts that illuminate the history of the Commonwealth.

References

American librarians Librarians at the Library of Congress 1871 births 1944 deaths People from Charles Town, West Virginia Librarians from West Virginia People from Wheeling, West Virginia {{Library-bio-stub

See also

References