Dana, John Cotton (1856-1929), was an American librarian who pioneered many improvements in library services.
Dana was born on Aug. 19, 1856, in Woodstock, Vermont. He attended Dartmouth College. Dana trained in law but worked as a land surveyor. In 1881, he was a member of the team of surveyors who discovered the ruins of the Mesa River cliff dwellers in southwestern Colorado. Dana also served as a lay leader in the Unitarian Church. He began working for the Denver Public Library in the late 1880’s. His career as a librarian began with his appointment as the library’s first director after he wrote letters criticizing its policies as well as the policies of libraries in general. Dana later worked in the public library of Springfield, Massachusetts, and was director of the public library of Newark, New Jersey, from 1902 until his death.
Dana made important innovations in libraries. He publicized library services to attract patrons. In his libraries, instead of having “closed” bookshelves, from which librarians brought patrons the books they requested, Dana opened the shelves to all readers and allowed them to browse for books themselves. In Denver, he started the first children’s library. He made the Newark library famous by extending its services to everyone. Dana also made use of his deep passion for art and history by incorporating both into the Newark library system. He turned the fourth floor of the library into exhibition space, displaying art loaned from the personal collections of the city’s leading citizens, as well as art objects he collected himself. The collections eventually became the Newark Museum, which opened in 1926.
Dana died in New York City on July 21, 1929. After his death, the American Library Association (ALA), of which Dana was an early president, established an award in his name, the John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award.
