Caroline Hewins
| Caroline Maria Hewens | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 10, 1846 Roxbury, Massachusetts |
| Died | November 4, 1926 (aged 80) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Librarian |
Caroline Maria Hewins (October 10, 1846 – November 4, 1926) was an American librarian.
American Libraries includes Caroline Hewins as one of the 100 Most Important Leaders we had in the 20th Century for her work as a librarian, where she is noted for her contributions to children's library services She was a librarian at the Hartford Young Men's Institute, which is now known as the Hartford Public Library in Hartford, Connecticut for more than fifty years. An author as well as librarian, she contributed not only to the expansion of children's library services across the U.S., but also the expansion of her library's membership, as well as its transformation from a subscription library to a free public library.
Caroline Hewins was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts on October 10, 1846. In the autobiographical book, A Mid-Century Child and Her Books, Hewins writes that after a bit of moving around, her family settled in West Roxbury when she was about seven years old. She was the oldest of nine children. Her father was a wealthy Boston merchant who provided a comfortable home for his wife, children, and an extended family of aunts, uncles, and grandmothers. Caroline learned to read by the age of four. Her love for books increased as she read to her younger siblings and as she progressed to reading folk and fairy tales, the English classics, and the stories from Greek, Roman, and European literary traditions.
Caroline Hewin's childhood education consisted of private schooling, before attending Eliot High School. After receiving her high school diploma, she attended the Girls’ High and Normal School where she graduated, although at first she described having some difficulty adjusting to her new educational environment. After graduation, she was hired to do Civil War research at the Boston Athenaeum. This is where she received her brief library training, learning sound bibliographic practice while working for one year under William Frederick Poole. She briefly describes that during this time she learned about the inner-workings of the library and how it was managed and funded.
Caroline Hewins left the Boston Athenaeum to take a job as librarian at the Young Men's Institute of Hartford where she was employed from 1875 until her death in 1926. When she was hired at age 29, the Young Men's Institute was a subscription library with 600 members. It was a private association dedicated to informal learning, lectures, and debates. Hewins shepherded the library through a number of important changes. In 1878, the Young Men’s Institute was merged with the Hartford Library Association and, ten years later, a generous grant enabled the library to undertake a large expansion project. In 1892, Hewins oversaw the library’s change from a private, subscription service to a free public library, and the Hartford Public Library was born. Suddenly the library went from its 600 paying members to thousands of patrons with free access. In order to better serve the community, Hewins expanded the library’s hours to include Sunday afternoons so that working people could take advantage of the institution’s resources. In 1895 she opened the first branch library in the North Street Settlement House where she lived, staffing it herself one hour each evening. Her commitment to the success of the branch and her appreciation of the work going on there was so strong that she moved in and resided there for twelve years.
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