Historical Events, Ideas, and People in the Library Profession from the inception of the
Library of Congress to 1950
Submitted by: Robin Ibanez, Sarah Maddaford, Jasmine Africawala, Martha Pickell,
Barbara Morey, Kristin Nevin
Bobinski, G. S. (1969). Carnegie libraries: Their history and impact on American public
library development. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.
Carnegie Libraries, though old, imparts to the reader a wealth of information about the
donations Andrew Carnegie gave to build public libraries. The book includes description
and pictures of the architecture of the buildings, a list of libraries that were proposed but
never built, correspondences between the libraries and the impact that these special
libraries had on American public libraries. The tables and illustrations provide the reader
with clarification of the text, but this book is still more suited to undergraduate students
instead of high school scholars.
Bostick, S. L. (2001). The History of development and academic library consortia in the
United States: An overview. The Journal of Academic Librarianship. 27, 128-130.
Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.
This article examines the academic library tradition of combining resources in the form
of consortia. The article first looks at the history behind consortia in academic libraries. It
examines the earlier and increasing years libraries practiced consortia. The article
mentions several articles published in the 1880s about library cooperation. Different
types of consortia are discussed in the article, as well as the economic reasons behind
consortia. The article also discusses how consortia fit in today’s libraries and mentions
many current consortia like the Washington Research Library Network, the Boston
Library Consortium or OhioLINK. New types of consortia are emerging everyday and
the tradition of collaboration between libraries will continue throughout the future.
Cole, J. (2006). Jefferson’s legacy: A brief history of the library of congress. Retrieved
April 20, 2009, from the Library of Congress Web Site:
http://www.loc.gov/loc/legacy/
This website features histories of multiple aspects of the Library of Congress (LOC),
including an overview of the history of the LOC as it correlated with other events in
American history. The “Collections” portion of the website gives a summary of all the
types of collections it houses, like books, manuscripts, photographs, maps, music, and
motion pictures, as well as a timeline of historical legislation, policies and events that
effected the development of these collections. The website also tracks the various
locations that housed the LOC and its collections from its first home in the office of the
Clerk of State to the construction of the Jefferson Building in 1987 and expansions to
date. Biographical sketches and photographs of every Librarian of Congress from John J.
Beckley in 1802 to current Librarian of Congress John Billington are available through
the “Librarians” portion of the website. All of the pictures used on the website are
available for reproduction and purchase through the LOC via the “Concordance” portion
of the website.
Conaway, J. (2000). America's library: The story of the Library of Congress 1800-2000.
Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress.
In America’s Library, James Conaway provides a history of the Library of Congress from
its inception championed by Thomas Jefferson to the turn of the millennium. He utilizes
the thirteen men appointed as directors of the Library as focal points around which to
describe the types of materials included, curious occurrences during their terms and the
building itself. The book includes pictures, prints of pages from documents, asides about
exhibits in the Library and biographies of each director. This book is a suitable source for
high school and undergraduate students wanting to know more about the Library of
Congress.
Library of Congress (n.d.). Library of Congress Home. Retrieved on April 28, 2009, from
Web Site: http://www.loc.gov/index.html
The Library of Congress web site is a one stop searching spot for anyone interested in
books, literacy, history, archives, copyright and so much more. It has quick links for
children and families, teachers, researchers, librarians, and publishers. Visitors can link
and subscribe to blogs, and podcasts, and make virtual visits to current exhibits and learn
about events. There are about 3,500 permanent employees!! Quick links lead visitors to
current job opportunities including fellowships and internships. Click general information
links to find links to the history and mission of the Library of Congress and enjoy the
lofty and American sentiment set forth in the “Vision Statement of the Library of
Congress… We will foster a free and informed society by building, preserving and
providing resources for human creativity, wisdom and achievement. We continually
strive to place these resources at the fingertips of the American people, their elected
representatives and the world for their mutual prosperity, enlightenment and inspiration.”
(1978). Fairchild, Mary Salome Cutler (1855-1921). In Dictionary of American Library
Biography. (pp. 167-170).
This section of the dictionary discuses the life of Mary Cutler Fairchild. Mary Fairchild
was not a typical female librarian during a period of introverted library caretakers. She
graduated from college in 1875 and was hired by Melvil Dewey as a cataloger at
Columbian College. She later taught cataloguing and served as vice-director of the newly
reorganized New York State Library School. Fairchild acted in Dewey’s absences as
school administrator. She was an outspoken advocate of the blind and organized the New
York state library for the blind in1899.
Lorenzen, M. (2001). A Brief History of Library Information in the United States of
America. 83(2), 8-18. Retrieved from WilsonWeb Journal Directory.
Lorenzen’s article (2001) is about the development of academic library instruction in the
United States. The article discusses its origins in the late 19th century as well as its
reemergence in the 1960s. Most of the article is focused on the arguments and quotes
from renowned supporters of academic library instruction in the past, like Edwin
Woodruff, Melvil Dewey, and Charles Shaw. The impact new information technologies
have had on academic library instruction and the criticism behind academic library
instruction are also stated in this article.
Maurizi, D. (2001). Carnegie and his legacy: The little libraries that could. Public
Libraries, 40(6), 346-8.
Maurizi’s article discusses in brief Andrew Carnegie’s philanthropic efforts to build
public libraries across the United States. The discussion includes brief glimpses into the
biography of Carnegie. Maurizi covers the few architectural strictures placed on the new
library buildings, and concludes his article with a discussion of the present state of many
of those buildings. Though some buildings have been demolished to make room for other
urban development, some have crumbled with age, some have been destroyed by natural
disasters; many of the buildings that remain are now designated as historically significant
and are thus slated for preservation. Maurizi’s note of hope for continuance of these
library buildings is bolstered by the continued grant program of the Carnegie Corporation.
Ranganathan, S. R. (1931) The five laws of library science. Madras Library Association
and Edward Goldston . Retrieved on April 28, 2009, from Digital Library of
Information Science and Technology Web Site: http://dlist.sir.arizona.edu/1220/.
S.R. Ranganathan was appointed University Librarian at The University of Madras in
India where he addressed the problems of library administration and classification and
wrote “The Five Laws of Library Science”. “The Five Laws of Library Science”,
published in 1931, have been widely accepted as the foundation of the library science
profession. The first law, “Books are for use” (Ranaganathan, 1931), means that a book
should be aesthetically pleasing as well as durable; the second law, “Every person his or
her book” (Ranaganathan, 1931), simply states that everyone is entitled to read and have
access to all collections of books; the third law, “Every book its reader” (Ranaganathan,
1931) stresses the ease of accessibility of resources in a library; ease of successful
location of the book of choice is the premise for the fourth law “Save the time of the
reader” (Ranaganathan, 1931); and the fifth law ‘The library is a growing organism”
(Ranaganathan, 1931) implies that the library must evolve with its readers.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (2008). ALA archives digital collection.
Retrieved April 20, 2009 from University of Illinois Archives, ALA Archives
Web Site: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/archives/ead/ala/digital/ala-digital.html
The Digital Collection of the ALA Archives features three different collections of images
related to the history of the American Library Association and librarianship in general.
The F.W. Faxon Photographs Collection contains photographs taken by F.W. Faxon of
librarians at ALA Conferences from 1894-1932. The Library Building Photographs
Collection contains various images of library buildings throughout history from around
the country. These images are paintings, photographs, postcards and other artistic
mediums from various types of libraries, including private, military and hospital libraries.
The Sjoerd Koopman Library Postcard Collection contains a historical collection of
postcard images of various aspects of libraries, including reading rooms and bookmobiles
from the United States and Europe. All three collections depict libraries and librarians
throughout history.
Wall, J.F. (1989). Andrew Carnegie. Pittsburgh, PA: University Of Pittsburgh Press.
This book is a biography written by Joseph Frazier Wall that covers the details of
Andrew Carnegie, the self-made man turned philanthropist. Carnegie is best known for
his worldwide establishment of nearly 3,000 free public libraries. Part III, titled The Deed,
contains the most relevant information in regards to his giving in the years from 1899 to
1919. Chapters XXI and XXII specifically detail the challenges of giving away large
sums of money which some cities in the U.S. had to initially decline because there was
not in place the means to provide tax monies for the maintenance of the gift. Additional
challenges of donating monies to acquire the land and building the facility without
providing the architecture leaves some libraries with inadequate or poorly planned spaces.
Later building plans were included with each new library perhaps leading to the too
common style of a “Carnegie” library. It is interesting that these issues of providing for
appropriate space in a new or remodeled library still have relevance today.
Watkins, A. (n.d.). John Cotton Dana – Newark’s First Citizen. Retrieved April 28, 2009,
from Rutgers Universities Libraries Web Site: http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/
rul/libs/dana_lib/danabio.shtml
This web site travels through the career of librarian John Cotton Dana. He was one of the
first librarians to establish foreign language collections for foreign patrons and a special
collection called the “Business Branch” to attract the business community within the city.
The concept of a library concentrating on one subject area was the beginning of a new era
for the public library system.
Wiegand, W. A. (1996). Irrepressible reformer: A biography of Melvil Dewey. Chicago:
American Library Association.
Wiegand’s preface to this biography of Melvil Dewey proposes to focus on Dewey’s role
in American society beyond his role simply as inventor of the Dewey Decimal
Classification scheme. The book is divided into three parts and an epilogue, arranged
chronologically, and covering significant pieces of Dewey’s life and work. The
biography covers Dewey’s influence in encouraging the public library movements of the
20th century, on the structure and composition of the library profession, and on higher
education practices; but also reveals another side of Dewey, frequently labeled as bigoted
and sexist. Despite this side of his character, however, Wiegand emphasizes Dewey’s
tremendous role in the history of American and the history of American libraries.