Sharp, Katharine Lucinda

Extract

Sharp, Katharine Lucinda (21 May 1865–01 June 1914), librarian and library educator, was born in Elgin, Illinois, the daughter of John William Sharp, a salesman and commission merchant, and Phebe Thompson. Sharp’s mother died when Katharine was seven years old, and she was raised by maternal relatives in Elgin, where she attended the progressive Elgin Academy, from which she graduated in 1880. In 1881, she matriculated at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, earning a bachelor of philosophy with honors in general, Latin, and special scholarship in 1885 and a master of philosophy in 1889. After receiving her Ph.B. from Northwestern, Sharp returned to the Elgin Academy as an instructor in Latin, French, and German from 1886 to 1888. In October 1888, she accepted her first library position as assistant librarian of the Scoville Institute, later to become the public library, in Oak Park, Illinois, where she stayed for two years until she enrolled at the New York State Library School, Albany, in the fall of 1890. She earned the bachelor and master of library science from the Albany school in 1892 and 1907, respectively....