Putnam, Herbert, 1861–1955, American librarian, b. New York City; son of George P. Putnam. He served as librarian at the Minneapolis Athenaeum (1884–87) and of the Minneapolis Public Library (1887–91). In 1895, after practicing law in Boston, Putnam became librarian of the Boston Public Library, and in 1899 he began his 40 years of service as librarian of Congress. He built the collection of the Library of Congress into one of the finest in the world, reorganizing and introducing important procedures and establishing a classification system that has come into wide use. Putnam was twice the president of the American Library Association (1898 and 1904).
See Essays Offered to Herbert Putnam by His Colleagues and Friends (1929).
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