William Frederick Poole

Birth: December 21, 1821, Salem, MA

Death: March 1, 1894 Evanston, Cook County, IL

Burial Location: Highland Ave. Lot 785, Grave 20

William Frederick Poole was born to parents Ward Poole and Eliza Wilder Poole. During his time at Yale, he produced the first Poole’s Guide to Periodical Literature (1848.) This was a 154 page index to periodical literature, the first of its kind. A 524 page edition would be published in 1853 and a 1,469 page edition in 1882.He also assisted John Edmands, who was a student at the Brothers in Unity Library.

After his graduation, Poole became an assistant librarian at the Boston Athenaeum in 1851. In 1852, he became head librarian at the Boston Mercantile Library. From 156 to 1859 he was the head librarian at the Boston Athenaeum where he inspired and guided the careers of other librarians. From 1869 to 1873 he was the first librarian of the Cincinnati Public Library. While there he succeeded in introducing the idea of opening the library on Sundays. From 1873 to 1887 he was the head of the Chicago Public Library. He convinced his friends in the academic community to donate books to the collection. He suggested to them that many books had been burnt in the great Chicago fire of 1871. Actually the fire had occurred two years before the campaign to build the library had begun! His efforts were successful, however. He ended his career as head librarian of the Newberry Library, a private research institution, where he worked from 1887 to 1894. He designed the building in which the library was to be housed.

Poole felt that each collection was unique and that the design and catalog system should be made to fit the library’s particular collection. He served as president of the American Library Association, president of the American Historical Association, and was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1877.

He married Frances Maria Gleason Poole in 1854. The couple had seven children.

Sources Consulted:

• ‍Findagrave.com/memorial/10954946/William_ Frederick Poole
• Snaccooperative.org/details43700781/6384735 William Frederick Poole 1821-1894
• Wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William _Frederick Poole&oldid=1083302695