Joseph Lewis Wheeler (March 16, 1884 – December 3, 1970)[1] was an American librarian.

[3] [4] He was director of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland from 1926 to 1945.

In Baltimore, he transformed many of the library's services including increasing the library's holdings of publications related to business, science and fine arts, and placing reference books on open shelves so the public could help themselves to information.

[6] In 1999, Wheeler was named as one of 100 American librarians who had a lasting effect on library service and the nation.

[8] He was married to Mabel Wheeler, with whom he had three other children: Joseph, Robert, and Mary.