No uniform concept of a public library existed during the 19th century. Thus different methods were developed to make these institutions more accessible to the public. Melvil Dewey was not a proponent of the open-shelf policy instituted by librarians such as William Howard Brett. Instead, Dewey focused on making libraries more accessible through the development of a flexible and efficient method of organizing information about a library’s holdings. Both the open-shelf policy and Dewey Decimal System have co-existed for more than a century, and have helped build a foundation upon which public libraries still operate. | Date: 1959 | Source: Cleveland Public Library Photograph CollectionDownload Original File
