Early Life and Career
Eastman was born in Oberlin, Ohio and moved to Cleveland at age 7. In her biography of her friend and mentor, William Howard Brett, Eastman shared a formative experience that would be very influential. Visiting the Cleveland library to acquire a book she needed for school, Eastman was told by an assistant that the book had been checked out and was unavailable. Brett, who was then head librarian, happened to pass by and overhear this exchange, and immediately offered to have someone go purchase another copy of the book for Eastman to check out. Following high school Eastman became a teacher, but soon decided to pursue library work instead.
Eastman started working at the Cleveland Public Library in 1892 as an apprentice, and in 1894 took charge of the West Side Branch Library, where she established The Open Shelf, a newsletter for library patrons highlighting new releases. Eastman left for a better position in the Dayton Library System in 1895 but returned quickly when Brett offered her the position of vice-Librarian. In that position, Eastman helped implement Brett’s revolutionary and highly successful open shelf system, whereby patrons could choose their own titles from library shelves rather than having to ask library staff to retrieve books from restricted stacks.
When Brett was killed in a car crash in 1918, the Cleveland Library Board appointed Eastman head librarian in unanimous vote.
Read more about this topic: Linda Eastman
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