Annie Smith Ross

Annie Smith Ross (March 4, 1866 – April 20, 1924), born Anne "Annie" Leticia Smith and later known as Annie Smith Hovey, was the first professionally trained librarian and library director at the public library in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. In addition to her work in the local community, Ross led the creation of the North Carolina Library Association, a statewide organization of librarians that is active to this day, and served as the organization's first president from 1904 until 1908. She served as secretary of the North Carolina Library Commission and as an appointed member of the Children's Librarians Section advisory board of the American Library Association. in Charlotte. (The original building was torn down in 1954, and the area is now served by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library system.) She worked there from before the library's opening day in 1903 until her resignation in 1910. Ross was an example of an early public librarian in the state, as "public libraries were almost unknown in North Carolina until 1900."

Early life, education, and first marriage Anne "Annie" Leticia Smith was born on March 4, 1866 to Laura Barbara Boone and Captain Thomas T. Smith, and grew up in Alamance County, North Carolina. within five years, under her oversight, it had grown to 5,350 volumes. A local newspaper reported that "he popularity of the library at night continues to increase, proving the wisdom of the night opening."

To recruit help for the library's operations, Ross began her own training program at the Charlotte library for women interested in becoming librarians.

Children's librarianship Ross made visits to local schools to encourage children to visit the Charlotte library, which, under her tenure, opened a designated children's room in 1904. Ross held children's story hours and lectures meant for audiences of children, including on the library's highly popular "Bird Day" in 1904, which drew 400 to 600 youngsters and adults, according to differing accounts.

Ross wrote in 1903 that she believed "ne of the most important features of library work is work with children." She seemed puzzled that libraries' role should need defending, writing: "It seems strange standing as we do in the dawn of the Twentieth Century it should be necessary to defend or justify the library as an important practical part of our educational system. The public library is an adult school, it is a perpetual and lifelong continuation class, it is the greatest educational factor that we have." The reader had suggested that such a museum could get its start inside the library until it got its own building. Ross supported the reader's idea and made a plea for additional town appropriations for the library. She wrote that $1,500 in annual appropriations could unlock tenfold that amount from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, which could pay for a library expansion big enough to include space for both historical items and more books.

North Carolina Library Association Ross had attended the American Library Association's national conference in 1899, when North Carolina did not have any organization to serve as a state chapter. A few years later, not long after she returned to North Carolina from her librarian training in Atlanta, she began working on creating a state library association.

Ross was elected as the NCLA's first president, and the group held its first meeting in November 1904. The marriage was arranged to take place at Ross's parents' house on South Myers Street in Charlotte, and the ceremony was described as a quiet gathering with few guests. The couple moved to South Carolina, then to Maryland in 1918, and later to South Carolina again.

Ross and her peers from the public libraries in Greensboro and Durham, were described as "strong librarians at [the] helm". Upon the news of Ross's resignation, a news article in Charlotte's Evening Chronicle said she had become "one of Charlotte"s most widely known and popular women" and that "she deserves the greatest praise."