Charles C. (Charles Coffin) Jewett

Born in 1816, Charles Coffin Jewett became one of the most influential American librarians of the mid-19th century. He is especially remembered for his work as a bibliographer and for his belief that libraries should be carefully organized so readers could truly use what they contained.

Jewett served as librarian and assistant secretary at the Smithsonian Institution, where he promoted the ambitious idea of a national union catalog that could connect the holdings of different libraries. Later, as superintendent of the Boston Public Library, he continued to develop large public collections and strengthen library administration at a time when free public libraries were still taking shape.

He died in 1868, but his reputation has lasted because many of the things he cared about—clear catalogs, shared standards, and public access to knowledge—became central to modern librarianship.