Caroline Hewins: Opening the world of libraries to children

When I learned the theme for this year (Breaking Barriers in History), I knew I wanted to do my project on a Connecticut woman. I moved to Connecticut this year, and I wanted to learn about someone from my new state. I spent a lot of time reading books and websites about Connecticut women, including More than Petticoats: Remarkable Connecticut Women, by Antonia Petrash, to find ideas. I learned about Caroline Hewins, and decided to do my website on her. She was a librarian who wanted to allow everyone to read; I love to read and use libraries, so I decided to learn more about her.

I started my research by looking online. I learned her basic life story that way, but needed to discover more. I went to the Hartford History Center in the Hartford Public Library, Hartford, CT. I reviewed materials they had about her in their collection. I viewed several pictures of her and the library. I saw some of the books she collected from other countries. I also filmed an interview with Maureen Heher, the historical research specialist at the Hartford History Center. I asked her questions about Caroline Hewins, and she was very helpful. Another place I visited was the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford, Connecticut. They had several letters in their collection that Caroline Hewins had received. I was able to read and photograph them. I requested several books through interlibrary-loan, and read them, including A Mid Century Child and Her Books, Caroline’s Autobiography. Those were very helpful and interesting to read. I downloaded an ebook that had parts written by Caroline, or parts about her. Some of the sections talked about her library work with children. I found quotes from her too, that were very interesting. I also emailed the Boston and Wadsworth Athenaeums, to ask if they had any materials on her.  I went to the state library and got a card so that I could access the historical issues of the Hartford Courant online I also viewed other historical newspapers online using the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America database of historic newspapers. I went to the Simsbury Public Library, to interview and film the head of children’s services, Stephanie Prato. I asked her questions about children’s libraries, and she had very interesting answers.

After collecting my information, I wrote an outline for my website, decided what pages I wanted on it, and how I wanted my pages laid out, and experimented with the website platform until I eventually settled on a design that I liked. It took me several days to configure my website.

Caroline Hewins is a very inspirational woman, who changed libraries as we know them. She broke the barriers in the public library system, which excluded children. She made an amazing children’s library, and it became a model for libraries all over the country. Caroline realized that she needed to change things. Children needed to read, and she broke the barriers to make the change.