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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Hasse | 1/4 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaide_Hasse | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T17:06:11.891784+00:00 | kb-cron |
Adelaide Rosalie Hasse (September 13, 1868 – July 28, 1953) was an American librarian. She is listed as one of the "100 most important leaders we had in the 20th century" in the December 1999 edition of American Libraries. She is credited with having developed the Superintendent of Documents Classification system used by the Government Printing Office and Federal Depository Library Program.
== Early life and library beginnings == Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Hasse was the first-born of Hermann Edward Hasse, a surgeon of German ancestry, a fact of which she was very proud despite the negative impact it would have on her mid-career. While there is no record of her ever formally attending school, it is assumed that she would have been educated through the local public school system. Eventually Hasse's family made its way to southern California where she not only earned the title of "Champion Fast Lady Bicycle Rider of Los Angeles," but also obtained her first library job. From 1889 to 1895, Hasse worked under the resolute tutelage of Tessa Kelso, the Head Librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL). Hasse and Kelso became lifelong friends in their endeavors to collect, organize, and maintain libraries and their documents as well as making libraries, and the United States, in general, more equitable places for women to work and live.
== Los Angeles Public Library == At the age of 20, Hasse was hired on at the LAPL for $40 a month. Melvil Dewey's school had opened two years earlier, but there is no record of Hasse attending. Hasse honed her craft through practical experience, diving into her work with a passion and eagerness that she managed to retain for the remainder of career. In her first six years of library work, she and Kelso developed the LAPL's collection from 6,000 items to 42,000 items. The two also worked to make the LAPL more user-friendly by offering free borrowing privileges, adding additional weekend hours, and allowing check-out of periodicals. Later, they developed a librarian training course that was offered through the library. When the library officially joined the Federal Depository Library Program in 1891, Hasse set to work on classifying its United States Department of Agriculture documents. The Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system was largely in use at this time, but it was not "suitable" for Hasse's needs. She needed a more specific system, and one not classified by author as government documents frequently do not have an author listed beyond the department. Classifying by department seemed to make the most sense; however, this proved equally problematic as many departments begin with the same word. Thus, Hasse devised an inverted, departmental system for classification, e.g., "Agriculture, Dept. of" rather than "Dept. of Agriculture." As her system for government documents differed significantly from the rest of the library's collection, which was organized by DDC, Hasse marked them as a special collection. During her tenure at the LAPL, Hasse also organized the Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Riverside, and local normal school collections as well. She also began attending local and national conferences, publishing bibliographies with some regularity, was promoted to First Assistant, and began to go by "Adelaide R." rather than simply, "Addie." Early in her career, Hasse gained the attention of prominent librarians and made a rather notable name for herself in the field. While Hasse's work with Kelso significantly improved many areas of the LAPL and earned them high marks with outsiders, the duo increasingly found themselves in trouble with the local library board. The board, consisting of men, was unhappy with their frequent travel to conferences, living arrangements, and outspokenness on community issues. After enduring much harassment, pay decreases, threats to cut library funding, and general moral outrage from the board, Hasse and Kelso resigned from their positions in 1895.