María Teresa Chávez Campomanes (1 August 1890,

Puebla de los Ángeles Puebla de Zaragoza (; ; ), formally Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, formerly Puebla de los Ángeles during colonial times, or known simply as Puebla, is the seat of Puebla Municipality. It is the capital and largest city of the state of Puebla, and ...

, Mexico - 24 February 1981) was a Mexican

librarian A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...

and

library science Library and information science (LIS)Library and Information Sciences is the name used in the Dewey Decimal Classification for class 20 from the 18th edition (1971) to the 22nd edition (2003). are two interconnected disciplines that deal with info ...

educator. She is regarded as the very foundation of teaching at the National School of Archivists and Librarians of the Secretariat of Education. The majority of Mexican librarians of the next era studied under her. She was named Teacher

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

of the Secretariat of Education and is known as one of the most respected and influential women of México, partially because of the cataloging tools she created.

Education

Chávez studied under Emilio Baz at the School for Librarians in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. Chávez graduated from the

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

in the United States. Chávez continued her education doing postgraduate work in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, Michigan and Columbia, focusing on library science. In 1953, Chávez received her doctorate in Literature after writing her

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

on books that later became classics at the National University of Mexico.

Employment

After graduation, she worked in the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

and Washington DC's

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. She later returned to México and studied

Spanish literature Spanish literature is literature ( Spanish poetry, prose, and drama) written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the Kingdom of Spain. Its development coincides and frequently intersects with that of other ...

at the National University in the department of Philosophy and Letters. She became the Director of the Franklin Library and the Library of México under the philosopher

José Vasconcelos José Vasconcelos Calderón (28 February 1882 – 30 June 1959), called the "cultural " of the Mexican Revolution, was an important Mexicans, Mexican writer, philosopher, and politician. He is one of the most influential and controversial pers ...

. She aimed to make libraries an extension of the

classroom A classroom, schoolroom or lecture room is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other place ...

. She helped found UNAM Colegio de Bibliotecología. To help her students, she created a tool called "Catalogers and Classifiers Manual", which became a basic reference work for catalogers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:CHavez Campomanes, Maria Teresa Librarians at the Library of Congress 20th-century Mexican women Mexican women academics 20th-century Mexican people 20th-century American women librarians 20th-century American librarians American librarians Mexican librarians 1890 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American academics