Charles Evans (librarian)
| Charles Evans | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 13, 1850 Boston, Massachusetts |
| Died | February 8, 1935 (aged 84) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Librarian |
| Known for | Wrote American Bibliography |
Charles Evans (November 13, 1850 – February 8, 1935) was an American librarian and bibliographer.
Evans was named one of American Libraries' 100 most important library and information science leaders of the 20th century. Evans is most well known as the bibliographer and compiler of the first 12 volumes of his book, American Bibliography: A Chronological Dictionary of All Books, Pamphlets, and Periodical Publications Printed in the United States of America from the Genesis of Printing in 1639 Down to and Including the Year 1830, with Bibliographical and Biographical Notes. He was also a founder of the American Library Association along with Melvil Dewey.
The son of Irish immigrants Charles Peter and Mary Ewing Evans, Evans was born in Boston, Massachusetts on November 13, 1850. Evans' parents both died before he was ten years old, at which point Evans and eventually his older brother, Thomas John, were sent to live and study at the Boston Asylum and Farm School for Indigent Boys on Thompson Island. Evans was so grateful for the education he received here, that decades later he donated two volumes of his American Bibliography to the school, being quoted as saying that because of the Boston Asylum and Farm School, he came to value and live by “obedience, fidelity, individual character and industry. Possessed of these, there is nothing which may not be obtained in life”.
Evans studied under Samuel Eliot – a trustee of the Boston Athenaeum - at the Boston Asylum and Farm School, and made such an impression on him that by the time Evans turned 16, on June 12, 1866, Eliot had hired him as assistant librarian at the Boston Athenaeum. It was here that Evans met William Frederick Poole, the librarian who would make the biggest impact on Evans’ life when it came to his knowledge and appreciation for the organization and classification in libraries. Years later into his career, Evans would recommend Poole join the American Library Association.
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