Effie Louise Power
American librarian

Effie Louise Power (February 12, 1873 – October 8, 1969) was a children's librarian, educator, author, and storyteller. She encouraged children's book production and evaluated children's literature. She “directly influenced the development of services to children in three major United States cities: Cleveland, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh.” Power also traveled across the U.S. lecturing students and librarians on children and youth library services. She worked to build a network of children's librarians across the country who supported each other and established high standards for all in the profession.
Early life and education
Power was born February 12, 1873, in Conneautville, Pennsylvania in the United States to mother Francis Billing and father William Ellis Power. Power never married or had children.
After Power graduated from high school, William Howard Brett, a Power family neighbor, jump-started her career by encouraging her to write the entrance exam for the Cleveland Public Library (CPL). Shortly thereafter, Power began working at the CPL in 1895. Brett, a librarian at the CPL, not only served as Power's mentor during her time there, but also put her in charge of the "Junior Alcove".
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Effie Louise Power” is american librarian. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Effie, Louise and Power, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “american librarian” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5347466. VIAF identifies the subject as 8826951. The Library of Congress control number is n85197464. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1873, 1969 and 1895.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Effie Louise Power”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Effie Louise Power primary sources, Effie Louise Power archive and Effie research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Effie Louise Power”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Effie Louise Power” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.