Books at the West Hempstead Public Library are arranged according to the Dewey Decimal System which was invented by Melvil Dewey. Who was this man?
Melvil was born on December 10, 1851 and was a librarian, educator, editor and author. He helped establish the American Library Association, co-founded and edited Library Journal, and founded the world's first library school at Columbia College (now Columbia University). He is known as the "father of modern librarianship".
The Dewey Decimal System allowed everyone to locate books without assistance from librarians. It organized books into 10 broad categories which are broken down into smaller and smaller topics.
Mr. Dewey died on December 26, 1931 at the age of 80.