A local Methodist minister accused her of "sin" when the library stocked a book that offended him; she sued him for malicious slander, and the case was settled in her favor, in 1895.

She joined the American Library Association (ALA) in 1886, to cover their annual meeting in Milwaukee that year for the Cincinnati Illustrated News.

"[6] The Association's mission was taken up by the Landmarks Club with acknowledgment of her previous work,[7][6] and she stayed on as a member of the organization's advisory board.

Dr. J. W. Campbell, spoke from the pulpit against Kelso's librarianship, leading prayers for her reformation, because the library added Le Cadet, a novel by Jean Richepin, to its shelves.

[15] Kelso, who did not speak French and did not personally choose that title for acquisition, sued Campbell for malicious slander, with Frank H. Howard, president of the Los Angeles Bar Association, as her attorney.

They asked her to withdraw her resignation at the same meeting, recognizing her experience and the lack of similarly qualified replacements on short notice.

[4] In 1924, Kelso objected to the New York Library Association (NYLA) planning to host their annual Library Week and conference at the Lake Placid, NY estate of Melvil Dewey, stating, "For many years women librarians have been the special prey of Mr. Dewey in a series of outrages against decency, having serious and far reaching effects upon his victims..."[18] After interviewing both sides, a cadre of representatives from NYLA, ALA, and the American Library Institute - organizations all founded in part by Dewey - sided with Kelso and relocated the conference to Lake George, NY.

[20] Kelso was striking in appearance, with short hair and glasses, often seen smoking in public, and not wearing a hat, as women generally did at the time.