We of the Robbinsdale Historical Society have always been fond of libraries (especially since our museum lives in one). But did you know that a nationally-known librarian figures into our story? Her name is Gratia (pronounced Gray-sha) Countryman (1866-1953), and she once had a home in Robbinsdale, which sill stands today at 3247 France Ave. N. Some of our Historical Society members who grew up in the area still remember the imposing figure and stern but friendly face of Miss Countryman in the neighborhood.
Gratia Alta Countryman broke many barriers. In 1889, she was one of the first female graduates of the University of Minnesota. When she became director of the Minneapolis Public Library in 1904—the nation’s first female head librarian at a big-city library. When she started, the library was mainly a place for the elite members of society. But over her 32 years as director she made library services open to all.
Simply put, Gratia Countryman’s goal was to bring reading to everyone.
“If a library is to perform its functions of elevating the people, it will need to adopt methods other than buying a fine collection of books and housing them in an attractive building and then waiting in a dignified way for people to come.” —Gratia Countryman, 1905
To get more books to more people, she founded the Hennepin County Library system—at a time when much of the county was farmland—using “bookmobiles” to reach the outlying areas. She set up reading rooms in factories, hospitals, and parks.
As early as 1914, under her leadership, the Minneapolis Public Library had books in over 20 languages and offered services for immigrants seeking US citizenship. She built branch libraries throughout the city and made sure they provided a sanctuary for quiet reading and study, where people could forget their troubles.
She even founded the first Children’s Section in a public library in the country when she set aside a section of shelves in a hallway stocked with books for young people.
As she became widely-known for her outreach and visionary views, Countryman was highly sought after to speak at local events and library conventions across the country. She became president of the American Library Association President in 1933 and continued in that role until 1944, long after her retirement.
Miss Countryman loved to travel and indeed she did in her role as a library leader. But before all that, at age 30, she had a grand adventure.
In the summer of 1896, four young American women embarked on a three-month bicycle tour of England, Scotland, and Wales, with a brief foray onto the Continent. The entire undertaking is described in A Bicycle Odyssey: Letters Written Along the Way by Gratia Countryman to her Parents at home in Minnesota.
Miss Countryman is credited with bringing the American library system through the Great Depression and creating a national model that is still in use today. She did Robbinsdale proud.
Want to know more? Check your library! There are Countryman memoirs as well as several biographies.
Very successful and intrepid woman.