[2][3] She studied at Wesleyan University and the New York State Library School at Albany, where she graduated in 1904.

At Seward Park, she encouraged her assistants to become well versed in Jewish, Yiddish and Russian holidays, customs, and literature, intending to make them sensitive to the surrounding community.

[2] In 1924, Rose worked with Franklin F. Hopper, chief of the circulation department of the Central Branch, the National Urban League, and the American Association for Adult Education to secure a combined $15,000 grant from the Rosenwald Fund and the Carnegie Corporation.

They developed programs featuring well-known speakers, vocational classes through the YWCA and the Urban League.

[7][8][9][10] The collection included "over 5,000 volume[s], 3,000 manuscripts, 2,000 etchings and portraits and several thousand pamphlets" showcasing the history and culture of African Americans.