Editing Melvil Dewey (section)

== Education and personal life ==
Dewey was born on December 10, 1851, in [[Adams Center, New York]], the fifth and last child of Joel and Eliza Greene Dewey. He attended rural schools and determined early on that his destiny was to reform the education of the masses.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wedgeworth |first1=Robert |title=World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services |date=1993 |publisher=America Library Association |location=Chicago |isbn=0838906095 |page=[https://archive.org/details/worldencyclopedi0000unse/page/250 250] |edition=3rd |url=https://archive.org/details/worldencyclopedi0000unse/page/250 }}</ref>
He briefly attended [[Alfred University]] (1870),<ref>
{{Cite news|title=Melvil Dewey: A Singular and Contentious Life |author=Anna Elliott |journal=Wilson Library Bulletin |date=May 1981 |url=http://www.hwwilson.com/databases/PDFsample/WLB/dewey.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010135016/http://www.hwwilson.com/databases/PDFsample/WLB/dewey.pdf |archive-date=October 10, 2008 }}</ref> then [[Amherst College]], where he belonged to [[Delta Kappa Epsilon]], and from which he earned a bachelor's degree in 1874 and a master's degree in 1877.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wiegand |first1=Wayne A. |title=Irrepressible reformer : a biography of Melvil Dewey |date=1996 |publisher=American Library Association |location=Chicago |isbn=9780838906804 |page=14}}</ref>

While still a student, he founded the [[Library Bureau]], which sold high-quality index-cards and filing-cabinets, and established the standard dimensions for catalog cards.<ref name="MD68">Michael Dewe (1968), "Historical aspects of library supply". In: ''Library World'' Vols 70–72, Grafton (eds), pp. 27–28.</ref>

As a young adult, he advocated [[English-language spelling reform|spelling reform]]; he changed his name from the usual "Melville" to "Melvil", without redundant letters, and for a time changed his surname to "'''Dui'''."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oclc.org/dewey/resources/biography/|title=Dewey Resources|work=oclc.org|date=13 July 2020}}</ref>

From 1883 to 1888 he was chief librarian at the [[Columbia University Libraries|Columbia College Libraries]]. During his time as director of the [[New York State Library]] (1888–1906), Dewey established a program of traveling libraries. From 1888 to 1900, he served as secretary and executive officer of the [[University of the State of New York]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wiegand |first1=Wayne A. |title=Irrepressible reformer : a biography of Melvil Dewey |date=1996 |publisher=American Library Association |isbn=9780838906804 |page=136}}</ref>

In 1895, Dewey founded the [[Lake Placid Club]] with his wife Annie. He and his son [[Godfrey Dewey|Godfrey]] had been active in arranging the [[1932 Winter Olympics|Winter Olympics]], which took place at Lake Placid—he chaired the New York State Winter Olympics Committee. In 1926, he went to Florida to establish a new branch of the Lake Placid Club.<ref name = "NYT33"/>

Dewey married twice, first to Annie R. Godfrey and then to Emily McKay Beal.<ref name="NYT33" /> He and his first wife had one child, [[Godfrey Dewey|Godfrey]]. Dewey became a member of the [[Library Hall of Fame|American Library Association's Hall of Fame]] in 1951.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-08 |title=Dewey Decimal: The sorting system that revolutionized libraries |url=https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/dewey-decimal/ |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=Big Think |language=en-US}}</ref>

He died of a stroke in [[Lake Placid, Florida]].<ref name = "NYT33">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1210.html |title=Dr. Melvil Dewey dead in Florida |website=The New York Times |date=December 27, 1931 |access-date=April 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015051022/https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1210.html |archive-date=October 15, 2009}}</ref>