Dewey Decimal: The Surprising History of the Man Behind the System

Heather Foster (0:02)

Though you might never have heard the name Melville Dewey, if you've ever been inside a library, chances are you have benefited from the Dewey Decimal Classification, or DDC. At least 135 countries use this method of organization for nonfiction. Tonight, we'll learn all about the unusual powerhouse of a man who invented it, and how his beliefs and ideals shaped the system for both better and worse. We'll also see how the system has evolved over the years, and why it continues to cause debate today. So, just relax and let your mind drift as we explore the sleepy history of Melville Dewey and the Dewey Decimal Classification.

In order to understand how the Dewey Decimal Classification came to be what it is today, it is important to understand the man behind it. Melville Louis Cossuth Dewey was born in Adams Center, New York on December 10, 1851 He was the youngest of five children. Although his family was not wealthy, they prioritized education. And from a young age, it was clear that Dewey had an unusual affinity for organization. Wherever he went, he always tried to organize whatever he could get his hands on, beginning with his toys and eventually advancing to his mother's kitchen right down to the spices. As he grew up, Dewey's rigid dedication to order seemed to bleed into many areas of his life. When he began to earn his own money in his teenage years, he diligently saved every penny. Once he had enough to meet his goal, it is said that he made a rather long walk to the nearest town to purchase a dictionary. Despite his modest means, Melville Dewey was able to attend college. In 1870, he briefly attended a small college before he transferred to the larger Amherst College, which was four and a half hours from his home. Once at Amherst, it was no surprise that he was immediately drawn to the college library.

Although you may be thinking the library is the perfect place for someone who loves order, it was not the case at that point in history. While Dewey was indeed surrounded by knowledge, organization was quite lacking. At the time, individual libraries were responsible for organizing their own items however they saw fit. Most of them did so by using a fixed location method. The librarian took note of where each book sat on the shelf. Books were sometimes organized by size or color, but they were often organized by the order in which they were acquired. Because of this, many libraries were not open for public browsing. If someone desired a specific title, they would go in and ask the librarian. The librarian would then consult their notes to find its location. Without an official way to categorize books by subject or title, it was often a challenging task for the librarian as well. Even though university libraries were common on larger college campuses, they also fell into the chaotic system of book cataloging. Because of this, students didn't have the freedom to browse the stacks themselves. Looking at the lack of uniformity and structure in libraries at the time, it's easy to see how a man like Melvil Dewey would be compelled to put his organizational skills to use. In his junior year at Amherst, Dewey began working in the school library. His immediate mission there was organization. After much thought, he came up with an idea for a new classification system. It was inspired by the metric system of measurements. Throughout his life, Dewey was a proponent of the metric system, as opposed to the US customary system, also called the imperial system. Dewey was also well known to have an unusual fascination with the number 10 In an article for American Libraries magazine, journalist and author Joshua Kendall writes, Considering 10 a magic number, Dewey was convinced that it was no accident that he had been born on December 10, the same day that the French National Assembly adopted the Platinum Meter Bar back in 1799 At the Lake Placid Club, the cooperative resort in the Adirondacks that he established in 1895, the number 10 ruled. He charged members a $10 annual fee. Lifetime memberships were $1,000 or 10 to the third. He also required that guests turn off their lights at exactly 10 p.m., the same time that the overnight train from the club left for Manhattan. This was a man who was addicted to writing 10-page letters and even preferred to sleep decimally, that is, 10 hours each night. So, it's likely no surprise that he came up with a decimal system centered around the number 10 The infinite possibility of the numbers allowed for the classification of nearly any book on any topic imaginable. In 1873, he outlined his method in a memorandum. He planned to present it to the Amherst Library Committee. With enthusiastic permission from his superiors, Dewey began to implement his classification system. From students to faculty, it wasn't long before people at Amherst took notice of the positive changes to their campus library.