In honor of Women's History Month, the Library is taking a look back at some of the remarkable women who changed The New York Public Library—and the field of librarianship—forever with our new series, Foreword: Women Who Built NYPL. Each week this March, we will be sharing reflections from our current staff on how the impact of these trailblazing figures from the Library's 125-year history are still felt today. 

About Melanie Yolles

Melanie Yolles is an archivist who was on the cutting edge of digital access to archives, entering the Library’s first archival inventory in digital form in 1988. She was also the first manager of centralized archival processing for the Library, helping to make countless archival collections available to the public. She made critical contributions to LGBTQ+ studies through her work processing the Committee of 14 Records, the papers of Martin Duberman, and many others. She just retired at the end of February 2021.

Melanie Yolles’s Legacy

Reflection by William Stingone, Aaron and Clara Greenhut Rabinowitz Associate Director, Preservation and Collections Processing

It feels strange to write about Melanie in the past tense. 

I am writing this, in February 2021, on the last day of her 37-year career at The New York Public Library and after working with her for over 25 years. We have been discussing ongoing projects all week, and probably will again before the day is through. But it’s not just the fact that she has not yet left that makes putting her in historical perspective seem incongruous. It also feels odd because Melanie’s influence is still so strong and will continue to benefit NYPL’s staff and researchers for decades to come.

The Library Melanie joined in 1983 would be unrecognizable to the staff and researchers engaged with its archival collections in 2021. You would not find any archives or manuscripts in the catalog. Finding aids, when they existed, were typed box-lists in filing cabinets. There were thousands of linear feet of valuable, but completely hidden, collections. And you could count the staff with any formal archival training on one hand.

Archival education in the United States was just beginning to gain a foothold, and libraries were at the threshold of their efforts to adopt and integrate emerging archival standards to unlock the value and promise of the collections in their care. Melanie joined the vanguard of these efforts and has remained there for her entire career. It is no exaggeration to say that she played some role in the creation and publication of thousands of catalog records and finding aids now discoverable on NYPL’s website. In that sense, her work has not only opened our collections to the public, but has amplified the important work of many NYPL staff since the Library’s founding.

For most of Melanie’s time at NYPL, she was also on the front lines of reference and reading room service. Her dedication to the Library’s collections and their users may have in fact shone brightest in this context. If it were possible to compile her countless letters, emails, and in-person discussions with researchers, it would be a formidable educational resource—required reading for all new staff—and humbling for any of us who think we know the collections well.

Melanie has had an enormous positive influence on the professional lives of everyone with whom she has worked. She had high standards and expectations for herself and the Library. She led by example and was an excellent teacher, mentoring staff that she managed and colleagues throughout the Library. Several of her staff have left the Library to take leadership roles at the other institutions. And dozens more have left NYPL with fond memories of her tutelage, wisdom, and company. On more than one occasion, departing staff have told me that they consider Melanie the “best boss I ever had.”

It wasn’t long after I came to the Library in 1995 that I recognized Melanie as the standard for anyone who wanted to consider themselves a serious professional. She was a triple threat. First, she knew history and was always adding to that knowledge. She read historical monographs for fun! Still does. Second, she knew the collections in Manuscripts and Archives, not just the ones that were used often, but also the ones that could be used more often if we described them better or made sure to steer researchers to them when we had the chance. Third, she was always looking for the best way to do things and remained undaunted by the enormity of the challenges the collections posed. 

My early impressions have not changed. In fact, my admiration has only grown over the years. Melanie is a humanist. Her deep belief in the Librarys’ mission is palpable. She spent the better part of four decades resolutely applying her considerable intelligence and professionalism to support that mission. She really cares. Now, she will leave the Library, but her legacy will remain as a role model for us all.

This is part of the Foreword: Women Who Built NYPL series. Find out how the Library is celebrating Women's History Month with recommended reading, events and programs, and more.