Charles Wells Reeder

Born in 1884, Charles Wells Reeder is best remembered as a librarian and writer whose work connected public information, local history, and everyday readers. A Project Gutenberg text reprinted from Ohio’s Board of Library Commissioners identifies him as an Assistant Reference Librarian at Ohio State University, showing his professional place in the library world.

His published work ranged from library practice to regional history. He wrote Government Documents in Small Libraries, a practical piece aimed at helping smaller libraries use public records well, and he is also associated with The Interurbans of Ohio, a book valued by readers interested in the state’s transportation past. That mix of subjects suggests an author interested both in how knowledge is organized and in how communities are connected.

Reliable biographical detail about his personal life appears to be limited in the sources I could confirm here, so this portrait stays focused on his documented work and role as a librarian-author of the early 1900s.