Who invented the

DEWEY DECIMAL
SYSTEM?

Melvil Dewey was born in a small town in New York on December 10, 1851. He was a child during the Civil War and when Abraham Lincoln was president.

Dewey went to school and eventually became a librarian.

Dewey was not happy with the way books were arranged in the library. Users had to look in many places to find books on the same subject.

Dewey loved math and he was very orderly. With these skills, in 1876 he invented a decimal classification system for books in the library. This is called the Dewey Decimal System.

Mr. Dewey also founded the American Library Association. He opened the first library school in 1887 at Columbia University.