Library Career
Miriam Carey enrolled in library school at the University of Illinois in 1898 at the age of 40. She left the school without a degree after one year to direct the public library in Burlington, Iowa from 1899-1905. In 1906 the Iowa Board of Control hired her to supervise libraries in its state institutions. This was the first time such a position had existed in the United States. In 1909 she moved to Minnesota where she continued her work as an institution librarian. In 1913 she was made supervisor of institution libraries in Minnesota. This position supervised the libraries in 18 state institutions, and she held it until her retirement in 1927 at age 69. From 1918-1919 she was the field director in the American Library Association War Service of hospital library work in the Southern states. From 1913-1923 she served as chairman of the Committee on Libraries in Correctional Institutions. From 1930-1936 she taught at the library school of the University of Minnesota.
Beliefs
Miriam Carey was an early champion for libraries in state institutions. In her article, "Organized Library Service In State Institutions," she stated that institution librarians would help improve efficiency by "developing a plan by which scattered libraries might be operated as though they were parts of one uniform system." Also in this article, she discusses how institution libraries could help develop "assets in the life of any human being, namely, the reading habit and the library habit." Whether it was reform in prisons and schools for delinquents or diversion in sanatoria and hospitals for the insane, "she used books as a means of rehabilitation and placed emphasis on them as a social force."(Engelbarts, 38)
Engelbarts, Rudolf. Librarian Authors: A Bibliography. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1981.
Jones, Perrie. "Miriam E. Carey." In Pioneering Leaders in Librarianship, edited by Emily M. Danton, 48-60. Boston: Gregg Press, 1972.
Jones, Perrie. "A Pioneer in Institution Libraries." The Library Journal 62 (February 1, 1937): 116-117.
Wertsman, Vladimir. The Librarian's Companion, Westport, Conn. and London: Greenwood Press, 1996.
Who Was Who in America: A Companion Volume to "Who's Who in America." Volume 1, 1897-1942. Chicago: A.N. Marquis Co., 1942.
Woman's Who's Who of America: A Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Women of the United States and Canada, 1914-1915. Edited by John William Leonard. New York: American Commonwealth Co., 1914. Reprint. Detroit: Gale Research, 1976.