韦棣华生平考辨

A Critical Survey of Miss Mary Elizabeth Wood's Life Activities

韦棣华(1861年8月22日-1931年5月1日)生于美国纽约州巴达维亚城,父母均是英国后裔。她在家中七个兄妹中排行第四,青少年时代大多在家帮忙操持家务。1889-1899年,她担任巴达维亚城理奇蒙得纪念图书馆馆长。1899年12月,她来到中国。此后,除数次返美与访英之外,她几乎一直都在中国工作与生活。她不仅创办了思文学校八角亭图书室、文华公书林、文华图书科(文华图书馆学专科学校),还极力推动美国归还庚款余额以发展中国图书馆等教育文化事业,并通过各种形式促进中外图书馆界的交流与合作。她为近现代中国图书馆事业做出了巨大贡献,是名符其实的"中国现代图书馆运动之皇后"。

Miss Mary Elizabeth Wood was born in Batavia, N. Y. on August 22, 1861, and died in Wuchang on May 1, 1931. Both of her parents were British descendants, and they bred seven children, among whom Mary was the fourth one as well as the only girl. For most of her youth, she stayed at home and helped her mother keep house. From 1889 to 1899, she worked as the first librarian of Richmond Me- morial Library in Batavia. In December 1899, she arrived in China. From then on, she spent almost all the rest of her life in China, especially in Wuchang. She founded not only the Boone Library in 1910, which be came first American-styled public library in China, but also the Boone Library School in 1920, which brought up quite a lot of Chinese professional librarians. She also played a key role in the enactment of the Boxer Indemnity Bill as well as the Sino-American library intercourse and cooperation. In short, she con tributed much to modern Chinese library work, and deserved the title of ＂The Queen of the Modern Library Movement in China＂.