November, 25, 2005 archives

working on a secret project, i ran across “at the pleasure of the board: women librarians and the los angeles public library, 1880–1905,” an excellent article about some of the early city librarians of the los angeles public library system.

you have to care.
you have to know what you want.
you have to be interested.
you have to be interesting.
you have to be excited.
you have to be exciting.
you have to be in love.
you have to be loving.
you have to be ready.
you have to be willing.
you have to be able.
you have to ask.
you have to be.

i ran across this little anecdote while digging up more information adelaide hasse, an assistant librarian in the los angeles public library’s early days (from a biography of adelaide hasse):

“Hasse also had contact with Melvil Dewey. While trying to seek support for publishing her grand series, Index of Economic Material in Documents of the States of the United States, correspondence indicates that Dewey arranged a meeting with Hasse at which he acted inappropriately. As it turns out, Hasse was one of several women toward whom Dewey’s behavior was less than appropriate.”

the actual circumstances are murky, because hasse had no interest in having them dealt with publicly.