Ada E. North

Ada E. North (November 19, 1840 – January 9, 1899) was an American librarian. North served as the Iowa State Librarian from 1871 to 1878, becoming one of the first women to hold a state office in the United States. She later worked as the first full-time librarian at the University of Iowa and was one of the cofounders of the Iowa Library Association.

Life and library work

Ada E. Miles was born on November 19, 1840, in Alexander, New York. She was the daughter of Milo N. Miles, a Congregational minister. To support her two children, North found a position doing temporary clerical work in the Iowa legislature, becoming one of the first women employed as a clerk in the State House. In 1872 she created the library's first printed catalog of its 14,500 volume collection. She wrote an article for Library Journal in 1891 reporting on the efforts of Iowa librarians, urging: