In the latter half of 1880s, early efforts were made to plant English university extension on the land of the United States of America. People who had the foresight explored the possibilities of American polular education, and found out new horizons in university extension.
Melvil Dewey, who had been known as "a designer of decimal classification", was among those persons. He invited Herbert B. Adams to the annual conference of American Library Association (1887) to deliver a lecture on university extension. More important if may be that university extension work was launched in the State of New. York under the direction of Dewey, then the secretary of the Regents of the University of the State of New York.
This article aims at (1) inquiring into the ideas of university extension in the mind of Dewey, and (2) considering the university extension scheme in the University of the State of New York.
In consequence, findings are as follows:
(1) Dewey acknowledged the most important part of popular education was home reading.
(2) He endeavored to link encouraging home reading to providing extension lectures.
(3) He conceived university extension "in the broadest conception of education".
(4) In the University of the State of New York, therefore, the departmen of university extension was composed of 4 divisions; Public Libraries, Study Clubs, Extension Teaching, and Summer Schools. Which should be considered as the Ameicanization of English university extension.