Charles Martel

Charles Martel (born Karl David Hanke; March 5, 1860 – May 15, 1945) was an American librarian responsible for the creation of the Library of Congress Classification; he is often considered to be one of the most influential librarians in American library history.

Early life Born in 1860 in Zurich, Switzerland, during Martel's childhood he was surrounded by books, as his father, Franz Hanke, was an antiquarian book dealer in Zurich. By 1872, Martel was studying at the Zurich Gymnasium, where he would continue his studies until 1876.

Martel continued to work at Newberry until December 1897 when he left for the Library of Congress, which had just finished its move into its new building in Washington, D.C. Before Martel arrived in Washington, Hanson had been hired on from the University of Wisconsin to become the new chief cataloguer of the classification division of the Library of Congress. Given the task of classifying the library's collection by then Head Librarian John Young, Hanson immediately brought in Martel to help in the task. This system used 44 main categories and within these subject categories, number designations were given that originally meant which book in the category. By the time Martel had arrived in Washington, the numbers meant which shelf the book would be found on.

Work on classifying the library's immense collection of books began in 1899 with Martel becoming a member of a committee formed and headed by Herbert Putnam, the new Head Librarian, following the death of John Young and William Parker Cutter. And as a way to help other libraries use the library's system, Martel and Hanson had the catalogue system printed on cards "since with the printed cards of the Library of Congress a serviceable catalogue can be made with less expenditure of time and labor than by any other method at present available." Working together with Martel, the two gained enormous insights into the world of cataloguing. When they returned to Rome, the whole adventure was such a resounding success that a mission of cataloguers went to Rome to help them in classifying the archives. Working through Dr. Putnam, Dr. Bishop was able to get Martel's agreement and together with three others, the work began on adapting the LC and the Anglo-American Code of Catalogue Rules to the Vatican's immense collection and archives.

On September 15, 1929, Charles Martel ended an illustrious career as the Chief Classifier and later Chief of the Catalogue Division at the nation's most prestigious library. He continued to consult though reaching compulsory retirement in 1932 and did not formally retire until just before his death on May 15, 1945.