Linda Anne Eastman
| Linda Anne Eastman | |
|---|---|
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Linda Eastman grave
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| Born |
July 17, 1867 Oberlin, Ohio |
| Died | April 5, 1963 (aged 95) Cleveland Heights, Ohio |
| Occupation | Librarian |
Linda Anne Eastman (July 17, 1867 – April 5, 1963) was an American librarian. She was selected by the American Library Association as one of the 100 most important librarians of the 20th century.
Eastman served as the head Librarian of the Cleveland Public Library from 1918 to 1938 and president of the American Library Association from 1928 to 1929. At the time of her appointment in Cleveland, she was the first woman to head a library system the size of Cleveland’s. She was also a founding member and later president of the Ohio Library Association, and a professor of Library Science at Case Western Reserve University.
Eastman was born in Oberlin, Ohio and moved to Cleveland at age 7. In her biography of her friend and mentor, William Howard Brett, Eastman shared a formative experience that would be very influential. Visiting the Cleveland library to acquire a book she needed for school, Eastman was told by an assistant that the book had been checked out and was unavailable. Brett, who was then head librarian, happened to pass by and overheard this exchange, and immediately offered to have someone go purchase another copy of the book for Eastman to check out. Following high school Eastman became a teacher, but soon decided to pursue library work instead.
Eastman started working at the Cleveland Public Library in 1892 as an apprentice, and in 1894 took charge of the West Side Branch Library, where she established The Open Shelf, a newsletter for library patrons highlighting new releases. Eastman left for a better position in the Dayton Library System in 1895 but returned quickly when Brett offered her the position of vice-Librarian. In that position, Eastman helped implement Brett’s revolutionary and highly successful open shelf system, whereby patrons could choose their own titles from library shelves rather than having to ask library staff to retrieve books from restricted stacks.
When Brett was killed in a car crash in 1918, the Cleveland Library Board appointed Eastman head librarian in unanimous vote.
One of Eastman’s major achievements as librarian was overseeing the construction and opening of Cleveland’s new main library.
Plans for the new library began in 1912, but political and financial questions (and World War I) delayed the beginning of construction until 1923, after a series of successful bond initiatives spearheaded by Eastman. The library opened to the public in May 1925 with a grand public event, featuring a main address by former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. The new building was, at the time, the third largest library in the country, boasting six floors and a main reading room that could seat 200.
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