This month we take a look back to the founding of the Albany Public Library and learn a bit about its very first director, Elizabeth M. Smith.
Like many of you, I imagine, the thought of who the library’s first director was had never crossed my mind. I first came across Smith’s name in this blog post on the 1914 Women’s Suffrage Parade in Albany. As I began researching, it quickly became clear that Elizabeth Smith saw the library as much more than a repository of books. Smith was a civic leader and community activist and helped make the library, even at its founding, a force for social change.
In 1922, three different library groups merged to form what is today’s Albany Public Library. Smith, who was then director of the Young Men’s Association (YMA) library, became the first director of the Albany Public Library. In 1923, the City of Albany began providing services to city residents through the newly formed public library. And here we are, celebrating that moment 100 years later!
Smith, originally from Portland, Maine, was dedicated to community service. In 1919, she founded the City Club of Albany, an organization that “concentrated on community problems directly affecting area residents.” While at the YMA library, she focused in part on providing library resources to recent immigrants to Albany. She acquired books on reading, writing and U.S. history and government tailored for English language learners. These efforts continued under Smith’s leadership at the Albany Public Library, which provided reading courses to 3,000 people between 1928 and 1938.
As president of the Equal Suffrage Club of Albany, Smith was a leader in the movement for women’s suffrage. In 1914, at the height of the mass movement for women’s right to vote, she marched in the Albany Suffrage Parade on June 6. The march drew hundreds of people to downtown Albany.
One of Smith’s major initiatives as director of the Albany Public Library was providing access to books for families and children. The library created a Parent Education group and Smith wrote of the group: “It is parents who take most advantage of the children’s department offer to help in the selection of children’s books for purchase and the development of children’s reading tastes.”
Smith shepherded the library system through the Great Depression and was director until 1945 when she retired.
Below is an excerpt from a 1941 Times-Union article featuring Smith:
For three years she taught school, in Portland and in Washington. Then, desiring another profession, she decided on librarianship because it was one of the few educational avenues open to women at that time.
Miss Smith was graduated in 1908 from the New York State Library school, then affiliated with the state library and now with Columbia University. She was appointed to the state library staff as assistant reference librarian. When she left, 14 years later, she was chief order secretary.
During Miss Smith’s directorship, the volumes have increased from 66,000 to 162,471, and the adult circulation has increased from 26,752 to 208,963.
The City Club is Miss Smith’s major interest away from the library. She was its first president, from 1919 to 1921, and served again from 1935 to 1939. At present, she is chairman of the city planning committee and is interested in the orderly expansion of Albany’s business and residential areas.
She also has been president of the New York State Library Association and the Albany chapter of the American Association of University Women, and is a member of the Woman’s Club, the Foreign policy association, the American Library Association and the League of Women Voters.
When these activities leave her time for a quiet evening at home, Miss Smith finds enjoyment in playing the music of her favorite composers, Bach, Beethoven and Mozart, and—of course!–a book. “I am particularly interested in books on political science, history or economics,” she said, “but I don’t scorn fiction.”
“Elizabeth M. Smith, Director of Public Library, Advocate of Adult Education.” (August 24, 1941). Albany Times-Union, p. 4.
Thanks to Virginia Marcellus, APL librarian, and Julie O'Connor, Friends of Albany History, for helping provide research for this blog post.
