Mudge, Isadore Gilbert

Mudge, Isadore Gilbert (1875–1957) librarian, bibliographer; born in Brooklyn, N.Y. After graduating from Cornell, she took a degree in library science at the leading such school, the New York State Library School in Albany, N.Y. (1900). She was a librarian at the University of Illinois: Urbana and Bryn Mawr, and after a trip to Europe in 1907–08, she held part-time posts until she became the head reference librarian at Columbia University (1911–41). Over the years she also taught at the library schools of Simmons College (1910–11), the New York Public Library, and Columbia University (1926–42). She edited four editions of the Guide to Reference Works (1917, 1923, 1929, 1936), reviewed reference works for the Library Journal, and wrote numerous articles, book reviews, and scholarly bibliographies. In many of her written works she was assisted by her longtime professional colleague and personal companion, Minnie Earle Sears. Mudge is credited with virtually creating modern American academic and reference library services.