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John Cotton Dana
Photo: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons14

John Cotton Dana

American librarian and museum director

John Cotton Dana (August 19, 1856, in Woodstock, Vermont – July 21, 1929, in Newark, New Jersey) was an American library and museum director who sought to make these cultural institutions relevant to the daily lives of citizens. As a public librarian for forty years Dana promoted the benefits of reading, pioneered direct access to shelved materials, and innovated specialized library services of all types.2

From Wikipedia’s article on John Cotton Dana (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Aug 19, 1856, died Jul 21, 1929.1

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedDartmouth College3

Career

Occupation: art historian, librarian, curator.8

  • 1895 to 1896President of the American Library Association6
  • Date not recordedWorked at Denver Public Library4
  • Date not recordedFounded Special Libraries Association5
  • Date not recordedMuseum director6 7

Dana studied law at Dartmouth College, where he graduated in 1878. Moving to Denver in 1880, Dana passed the Colorado bar and began to practice. Dana moved to New York and was admitted to the bar in 1883. Taking a position as the editor of the Ashby Avalanche in 1885, Dana moved to Minnesota, but resettled in Colorado after a short time. Dana married in 1888 to Adine Rowena Wagener. They had no children.

Because of the reputation he cultivated as a learned man and his connections in the Denver Public Schools, the superintendent Aaron Gove nominated Dana as the city's first librarian. Dana directed the Denver Public Library from 1889 to 1898, where he instituted an "open stack" policy under which patrons could browse for themselves instead of having library staff intervening for every request. Dana wanted to update libraries and envisioned them as vibrant community centers rather than collections of relics that appealed to only a small segment of people. Under Dana's leadership the Denver Public Library also pioneered the first-ever collection devoted to children's literature. Dana was the president of the Colorado Library Association in 1895 and served as president of the American Library Association in 1895/96.

Dana also drew criticism for circulating "gold bug" literature at the library; Colorado was economically dependent on mining silver and the gold standard was a political issue. Dana felt that library patrons should have information on both sides of the issue.

Back east again, he served as a librarian at the Springfield, Massachusetts, public library from 1898 to 1902 and continued many of his Denver policies there. One of the changes Dana implemented at the Springfield library was to the physical building itself. He had workers tear down many of the railings and generally open the floor plan. Dana was adamant that patrons be permitted to browse the stacks: "Let the shelves be open, and the public admitted to them, and let the open shelves strike the keynote of the whole administration. The whole library should be permeated with a cheerful and accommodating atmosphere."

From Wikipedia’s article on John Cotton Dana (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornAug 19, 1856, Woodstock7 9
  • DiedJul 21, 1929, Newark7 10
  • CitizenshipUnited States11

Awards

  • 1951Library Hall of Fame12

Sources

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