Melvil Dewey and the Corporate Ideal Francis Miksa (In Melvil Dewey: The Man and the Classification. Ed. by G. Stevenson and J. Kramer-Greene, pp. 49-100. Albany, N.Y.: Forest Press, 1983) Melvil Dewey and the Corporate Ideal by Francis Miksa Introduction Thirteen years ago W. Boyd Rayward noted that much of what had been written about Melvil Dewey was "hot with adulation." It focused .on his genius, his extraordinariness, his indefatigability, his pertinacity, adhis brilliance. This, Rayward asserted, expressed a partis& delight in the sheer fact "that what he did could be done at all." In an act of bravery, Rayward then proposed that Dewey be approached critically by abandoning "simple contemplation of the triumph that anything was done" in order "to consider what was done" [l,p. 2971. The years since have witnessed only the partial success of Rayward's call. Dewey, for the most part, remains the center of the modern library history universe, its progenitor, a modem demi- urge who created modem librarianship from formlessness and emptiness. This conclusion might be expected from Sarah K. Vm's sympathetic biographical sketch: His classification, his innovative ideas on library services, his clearly articulated conception of library education, the work of the graduates of Columbia College and the New York State Library School, and his involvement in associ- ational activities at the national, state, and local levels, remains impressive and influential. [2, p. 521 But one finds the same tone even in Dee Garrison's Apostles of Culture. And Garrison cannot easily be placed in the chorus of applause and adulation: 5 0 Francis Miksa 1 Dewey and the Corporate Ideal 51 More than any other single person, Dewey shaped the 1876 Special Report (itself begun the previous October). Eaton development of the public library in the United States, pursued the idea with others and by the spring of 1876 it had forcing it into the path he believed it should take. Almost already been a topic of conversation at least among Boston librari- alone he set the pattern for library education. His paeans I ans [5, pp. 36-37; 6, pp, xxvi-xxvii; 7, p. 71. They had done little to professionalization not only affected the growth of librarianship but also influenced educational standardiza- about it, however, and it was at that point that Dewey stepped in tion in all the professions. [3, p.1061 to actually arouse interest in it and to pursue it. Dewey's role in the actual arrangements was very important. Cutter himself said And John P. Comaromi's effort recently to add even one other at the close of the 1876 meeting: person to the picture of modern library beginnings somehow seems I suppose of late years many persons had desired a meeting a strange juxtaposition: of librarians; but the credit of independently conceiving From 1873 to 1906 he [Dewey] was to devise and con- the idea, of expressing it with such force as to win a hearing, struct almost single-handedly the forms and substance of of talking over those of us who were incredulous or librarianship (Charles Ammi Cutter providing the other indifferent, and of bringing us together in this Convention hand on occasion). [4, p. 1771 from which we have received so much profit and enjoyment, is incontestably due to our energetic, enthusiastic, and per- If anything, the mere mention of some other person, even a Charles suasive Secretary. And more than this: he has, I understand, Ammi Cutter, seems out of place, something of a sop thrown in the defrayed all the preliminary expenses of circulars, corres- direction of mere mortals. pondence, etc. [8, p. 1391 The difficulty with all such conclusions is, of course, that they This certainly appears like the progenitor at work. But Cutter often do not effectively identify the actual cause-effect relation- was being deferential. The fact is that an important portion of the ships that were in operation, especially between Dewey's ideas correspondence that made the conference a success had been done and goals and the developments that occurred. Instead, a great by others, especially through Eaton's agency, the Bureau of deal of weight is simply attributed to his "activity" or his "energy" Education. Cutter himself had brought the prestige of the Nation or even the fact that because he pursued some activity such as to the event. And it was through Cutter's efforts that Dewey helping to found an organization, his contribution may be thought himself was enabled at a very late date to add to the Special of as the existence of the organization per se. Report a description of his classification scheme that afterward Dewey was not, of course, the only person involved in such aided in establishing its reputation. Cutter was deferential, perhaps, foundings, nor was he the only contributor, the only policy- and for the same reasons that others since that day have been decision-maker, nor the only one from whom important, even deter- deferential. It was simply very difficult to get beyond Dewey the minative, ideas arose. The American Library Association (ALA), person. Dewey was the prototype of the modern lobbyist, a dealer for example, had its origins among a number of people. Dewey in favors and gratitude, and a master at calling in the green stamps was not apparently the originator of the idea that a meeting of ,. owed him when he needed them, though not always successfully. librarians should be held in conjunction with the educational exhibit When one is in the presence of such a person, it is not only difficult at the approaching Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. That to be realistic, especially when that person has appeared to have role may be safely attributed to Thomas H. Williams, librarian of r + increased your own worth, it is a convention in interpersonal rela- the Minneapolis Athenaeum and a participant in the 1853 tionships to offer praise in the spirit of the statement, "I am for- librarians' convention some two decades before. Williams sug- ever in your debt." gested the idea to General John Eaton, Commissioner of Educa- To say this does not at all diminish the reality of Dewey's pres- tion, early in 1875 in connection with Eaton's effort to publish the ence in the entire process, But it does tempt the observer to dis- 52 Francis Miksa Dewey and the Corporate Ideal 53 place analysis with deference, and, therefore, to distort what really manufacturing, railroads, and telegraphy. And, of course, each of happened. Indeed, after observing Dewey at work in the founding these developments was subsequently "re-revolutionized" by the of the ALA, one still must ask, What exactly was Dewey's role and end of the century with the introduction of electric and then inter- what was the nature of his influence-not absolutely, as if influ. nal combustion power. ence could ever be viewed in absolute terms-but in comparison The development of American industry also brought with it the to the others who were also involved?. development of mass markets which in turn contributed to the rise Any answer to a question such as this will obviously be many of popular culture. From a commercial point of view, popular faceted. Some steps toward that end may be found in discussions culture may be considered simply a mass market for popular and of Dewey's interest in efficiency, in his shaping of library educa- easily produced goods. And, with all of these developments came tion as task-oriented training, and, in conjunction with the latter, attendant social changes attached to urbanization, immigration, in his portrayal of library work as principally a technical occupation the rise of new wealth, the rise of nativism, and notable shifts in . [I]. The present paper will focus on a still broader conceptual- standards of personal and social behavior. ization, that is, that Dewey's contribution to modern librarianship One may view industrial and commercial expansion in terms of may be viewed as his expression of a corporate ideal in relation- the birth, life, transformation, and death of individual businesses. ship to libraries. When seen this way, the role of individuals and groups of individu- als, their circumstances, abilities, dreams, and wisdom are para- mount. But one may also view industrial and commercial growth The Corporate Ideal as an overall social phenomenon. When seen in this manner, such The notion of a "corporate ideal" will easily prompt an image of growth represents a societal response to needs for essential (and giant, perhaps international, corporations, now often widely diver- nonessential as wealth permits) goods and services. Both perspec- sified over several industries. Policy and major decisions are set by tives are interrelated, of course, the overall informing the particular, boards of directors who are far removed from the daily operations the particular representing the cutting edge or realities of the of individual production facilities. Elaborate methods are followed overall. More important, the overall view provides significant for predicting production needs, pricing products, assigning wages insights for understanding individual cases. and benefits. And now more than ever such corporations are deeply The most fundamental problem that industrial and commercial involved in public policy decisions, either through the processes of growth faced in an overall sense was size. The United States was regulation or labor union interaction, or through involvement in by far the largest single land mass with the largest, most changing, legislative and executive assessments of the needs of the national and mobile population to undergo industrial and commercial change economy in the midst of world economic crises. up to the late nineteenth century.