Mary Elizabeth Wood

Mary Elizabeth Wood (August 22, 1861 – May 1, 1931) was an American librarian and missionary, best known for her work in promoting Western librarianship practices and programs in China. She is credited with the foundation of the first library school in China, the Boone Library School, as well as spurring the development of Chinese librarianship as a modern profession. Childhood and education Mary Elizabeth Wood was born in Elba, New York, United States, to parents Edward Farmer and Mary Jane Wood. The only daughter among seven brothers, she attended a mixture of private and public schools while growing up in Batavia, New York. Wood later attended library school at Pratt Institute in New York City and at Simmons College. Described in her childhood as "a great reader," she was appointed the first librarian of the Richmond Memorial Library when she was twenty-eight years old, and worked there for ten years. Involvement with China In 1899, she went to visit her youngest brother, Robert E. Wood, who was stationed as a missionary for the Protestant Episcopal Church in Wuchang, China. Her trip was initially spurred by concerns for her brother's safety, as anti-foreign riots had become increasingly common; however, Robert persuaded her to stay in China as an English teacher at the Boone School, a small preparatory school run by the mission. Initially, Wood seemed to regard her stay in China as "an extended visit," but she soon became concerned with the sparse educational resources at the school, particularly the lack of a library. By 1901, she had begun soliciting book donations from friends and acquaintances back in America, independently building a collection to support the Boone School. After several years, Wood decided that a separate library building was necessary to house the collection, and she returned to America in 1906 with the dual purpose of raising construction funds and gaining professional library training. When she returned to China in 1908, she had secured financial resources and a library degree from the Pratt Institute Library School in Brooklyn, New York.