Timeline of women in library science

This is a timeline of women in library science throughout the world.
1796: <a href="/facts/Cecilia_Cleve/gbje1E9T">Cecilia Cleve</a> became the first female librarian in Sweden.
1852: The first female clerk was hired for the <a href="/facts/Boston_Public_Library/xptQQrSN">Boston Public Library</a>.
1858: The first female library clerk was appointed to the <a href="/facts/Smithsonian_Institution/pqC74ta9">Smithsonian Institution</a> in 1858, and was also the Smithsonian's first female employee.
1880: <a href="/facts/Mary_Foy_(librarian)/qSdjmpJQ">Mary Foy</a> became the first woman head librarian of the <a href="/facts/Los_Angeles_Public_Library/LItQd6m0">Los Angeles Public Library</a>.
1890: <a href="/facts/Elizabeth_Putnam_Sohier/kquXp5S5">Elizabeth Putnam Sohier</a> and <a href="/facts/Anna_Eliot_Ticknor/d99jgapD">Anna Eliot Ticknor</a> became the first women appointed to a United States state library agency—specifically, the <a href="/facts/Massachusetts_Board_of_Library_Commissioners/15LQhgT0">Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners</a>.
1911: <a href="/facts/Theresa_Elmendorf/H5bk5s85">Theresa Elmendorf</a> became the first female president of the <a href="/facts/American_Library_Association/3jVtqULk">American Library Association</a>.
1912: <a href="/facts/Lillian_Helena_Smith/X9GIBe8b">Lillian Helena Smith</a> became the first trained children's librarian in Canada.
1916: Margaret Duncan became one of the first librarians, and later director, at the Clearwater Public Library in <a href="/facts/Clearwater%2c_Florida/tfxS8QJm">Clearwater, Florida</a>. During <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a>, Duncan became the Pinellas County Director for the American Library Association in the United War Campaign. 
1921: <a href="/facts/Alice_Dugged_Cary/UYRKJvVH">Alice Dugged Cary</a> served as the first nonprofessional librarian and branch head of the Auburn Branch of the <a href="/facts/Carnegie_Library/FJnFPNCX">Carnegie Library</a>, the first branch to serve Atlanta's African American citizens under segregation.
1921: <a href="/facts/Pura_Belpr%25C3%25A9/LLt2DABu">Pura Belpré</a> became the first Puerto Rican librarian to be hired by the <a href="/facts/New_York_Public_Library/2BfpGN3P">New York Public Library System</a>.
1923: <a href="/facts/Virginia_Proctor_Powell_Florence/EjDKIClz">Virginia Proctor Powell Florence</a> became the first black woman in the United States to earn a degree in library science. She earned the degree (Bachelor of Library Science) from what is now part of the University of Pittsburgh.
1940: <a href="/facts/Eliza_Atkins_Gleason/UJJBLk2J">Eliza Atkins Gleason</a> became the first black American to earn a doctorate in library science, which she did at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Chicago/z6zRMUmV">University of Chicago</a>.
1946: <a href="/facts/Mary_Ellinor_Lucy_Archer/exFmK8Ua">Mary Ellinor Lucy Archer</a> became the first Chief Librarian of the <a href="/facts/CSIRO/3xSIonky">CSIRO</a> (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) in Australia.
1947: <a href="/facts/Freda_Farrell_Waldon/sV9262D8">Freda Farrell Waldon</a> became the first president of the <a href="/facts/Canadian_Library_Association/j57IaQ84">Canadian Library Association</a>, and thus, as she was female, its first female president.
1949: <a href="/facts/Christine_Wigfall_Morris/smoprDHS">Christine Wigfall Morris</a> became the first African American to work as a librarian in Clearwater, Florida. She later became the director of the "Negro Library", which opened in 1950. 
1963: <a href="/facts/Shanti_Mishra/EXfjuWRU">Shanti Mishra</a> became the first Nepali female librarian. She was appointed as the chief librarian in <a href="/facts/Tribhuvan_University_Central_Library/fKqvnMmx">Tribhuvan University Central Library</a>, after returning from the United States with a Master of Arts in library science. She was the first female librarian of Tribhuvan University Central Library.
1963: <a href="/facts/Marianne_Scott/VGRA5QWH">Marianne Scott</a> was the first president of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries, which became a formal association on July 5, 1963.
1970: <a href="/facts/Clara_Stanton_Jones/bVxoHxY0">Clara Stanton Jones</a> became the first woman (and the first African American) to serve as director of a major library system in America, as director of the <a href="/facts/Detroit_Public_Library/XM64FztE">Detroit Public Library</a>.
1970: The American Library Association's Social Responsibilities Round Table Feminist Task Force (FTF) was founded in 1970 by women who wished to address sexism in libraries and librarianship.
1971: <a href="/facts/Effie_Lee_Morris/6Xbg4RyL">Effie Lee Morris</a> became the first woman and black person to serve as president of the <a href="/facts/Public_Library_Association/7Vo04tol">Public Library Association</a>.
1972: <a href="/facts/Zoia_Horn/XD3o6KKh">Zoia Horn</a>, born in Ukraine, became the first United States librarian to be jailed for refusing to share information as a matter of conscience (and, as she was female, the first female United States librarian to do so.)
1973: Page Ackerman became University Librarian for the <a href="/facts/University_of_California%2c_Los_Angeles/KwPz7AK1">University of California, Los Angeles</a>, and thus became the United States' first female librarian of a system as large and complex as UCLA's.
1976: <a href="/facts/Mary_Ronnie/KVYezVAx">Mary Ronnie</a> became the first female national librarian in the world, due to becoming New Zealand's first female <a href="/facts/National_Library_of_New_Zealand/LRToWlVY">National Librarian</a>.
1976: The Council of the American Library Association passed a "Resolution on Racism and Sexism Awareness" during the ALA's Centennial Conference in Chicago, July 18–24, 1976.
1976: The Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship (COSWL) of the American Library Association was founded in 1976.
1978: Margaret Shaw was appointed as the first Chief Librarian of the <a href="/facts/National_Gallery_of_Australia_Research_Library_and_Archives/ac9mlteV">National Gallery of Australia Research Library</a>.
1985: Susan Luévano-Molina became the first female president of <a href="/facts/REFORMA/GahvytxJ">REFORMA</a>.
1993: Jennifer Tanfield became the first female Librarian of the <a href="/facts/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom/IyyztqLo">House of Commons of the United Kingdom</a>.
1999: <a href="/facts/Elisabeth_Niggemann/wbyMG2UE">Elisabeth Niggemann</a> became the first female director general of the <a href="/facts/German_National_Library/bj4WE8MM">German National Library</a>.
2000: <a href="/facts/Lynne_Brindley/IfTDUtGu">Lynne Brindley</a> was appointed as the first female chief executive of the <a href="/facts/British_Library/p01eBQ5A">British Library</a>.
2002: Inez Lynn was appointed as the first female librarian in the <a href="/facts/London_Library/xkS6mAqT">London Library</a>'s history.
2004: Anjana Chattopadhyay became the first Director of the <a href="/facts/National_Medical_Library/bvfMLoQU">National Medical Library in India</a>.
2009: <a href="/facts/Anne_Jarvis/14YLNSTN">Anne Jarvis</a> became the first female librarian in <a href="/facts/Cambridge_University_Library/oLLPHbsC">Cambridge University's</a> 650-year history.
2012: <a href="/facts/Sonia_L%2527Heureux/gU9WlawL">Sonia L'Heureux</a> became the first female <a href="/facts/Parliamentary_Librarian_of_Canada/mR50WI6v">Parliamentary Librarian of Canada</a>.
2016: <a href="/facts/Laurence_Engel/bXbSXQTo">Laurence Engel</a> became the first female head of the <a href="/facts/French_National_Library/4TNyWsxG">French National Library</a>.
2016: <a href="/facts/Carla_Hayden/HNb8Axlw">Carla Hayden</a> became the first female <a href="/facts/Librarian_of_Congress/Nm4nDYL6">Librarian of Congress</a>.
2019: <a href="/facts/Leslie_Weir/B8p8qIE0">Leslie Weir</a> became the first female Librarian and Archivist of Canada.

Timeline of women in library science open-in-new

Timeline of women in library science