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Sarah Byrd Askew was born in Dayton, Alabama on February 18, 1877, and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, where she attended business school and worked as a stenographer. While visiting in Cleveland, Ohio, Miss Askew's interest in libraries was sparked by William H. Brett, who offered her a temporary position in the Cleveland Public Library. This job gave her the opportunity to combine her love of reading with providing service to others. She subsequently went on to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, where she received her library degree in 1904.
In 1905 Miss Askew was offered a position as an organizer for New Jersey's Public Library Commission, where her duties were to develop and organize the libraries in the State. Part of this reorganization led to the establishment of "travelling libraries," which supplied a general collection of books to local communities. An interlibrary loan system was also developed for smaller libraries. As a result of Miss Askew's work as an organizer, New Jersey, which had 66 libraries in 1905, had 316 libraries in various cities and towns by 1942.
Miss Askew was involved in the profession of librarianship as president of the New Jersey Library Association 1913-1914 and 1939-1940, vice-president of the American Library Association 1938-1939 and the author of The Place, the Man and the Book.
In 1930 Miss Askew was awarded a Doctorate of Library Science by Rutgers University. Years later, she received further recognition when the library at William Paterson College was named after her. The dedication, which occurred on April 18, 1956, honored Sarah Byrd Askew for her outstanding work in organizing New Jersey's Public Library Commission, and her service to New Jersey's library community until her death on October 20th, 1942.
For more information about Sarah Byrd Askew, please ask at the Reference Desk.