One interesting fact is that Brett was a civil war veteran and was instrumental in the installation of "library service to the US soldiers and sailors in America, France, and other locations".

"[8] As reported in Portrait of a Librarian, a lifelong friend and classmate, William C. Cochran, remembered that "he [Brett] knew every book in the library, its place on the shelves and what it contained between its cover".

[9] After his first year of college at the University of Michigan, Brett moved to Cleveland, Ohio, married Alice Allen, started a family, and distinguished himself in the wholesale book distributing business.

[3] Brett wanted a library where the users had free and open access to the collection and could select their own books without going through a librarian.

Brett was also forward thinking when he solicited Andrew Carnegie for funds to build branch libraries around the city.

[4] Brett wanted to have libraries dedicated to the public that were located in their neighborhoods and within walking distance of their schools, work, and homes.

"[12] Brett continued to blaze trails when he seized the opportunity to rearrange the library collection into "divisional arrangements" which separated the reference and circulating books by major categories and dedicated a staff to each subject matter.

[18] So with the assistance of professors from Western Reserve University and the Cleveland public library staff Brett created a series of training and development courses.

Before his untimely death by a drunk driver,[23] Brett was preparing to deliver a set of books and magazines dedicated to the soldiers fighting in World War I in France.