Public Libraries and a Democratic Society
A Reason for Thanksgiving: “The Public Library."
The decision to establish tax-supported public libraries as a natural and right extension of public schools in the 1850s tied public libraries to the ideal of a democratic society.1
“The Public Library: An American Commons.”
The Library of Congress has acquired 681 photographs from “The Public Library: An American Commons,”2 a photographic survey by Robert Dawson of public libraries in the United States.3 The photographs describe the American public library—as architecture, community spaces and a reflection of the contemporary social landscape.
Postcard collections of American Public Libraries
The American Library Association Archives has an extensive collection.4
Larry T. Nix5 Wisconsin Library Postcards
Library Postcard Collection – Johnson Roberts Associates -BY STATE
Part of Our Lives: A People's History of the American Public Library
The public library is a "part of our lives:" Library historian Wayne A. Wiegand makes the case for why the library has survived and flourished in the 21st century. 6
Part of Our Lives: A People's History of the American Public Library | Library of Congress (loc.gov)
McCook Kathleen and S Bossaller. 2017. Introduction to Public Librarianship 3rd ed. Chicago: American Library Association.
Dawson, Richard. The Public Library: An American Commons. Marquand Editions, Seattle, 2019
Quinlan, Lauren. (2020). You’ve Got Mail: Carnegie Libraries, As Seen Through Library Postcards. American Library Association Archives.
Larry T. Nix, 2016 Library Hall of Fame Inductee – Wisconsin Library Heritage Center (wisconsinlibraries.org)
Wiegand Wayne A. 2015. Part of Our Lives: A People's History of the American Public Library. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Library of Congress video presentation: Part of Our Lives: A People's History of the American Public Library | Library of Congress (loc.gov)
Recently I was at my local farmer's market and one of the women from one of the farms complimented me on my hand-knit scarf. I told her I got the pattern from a book I check out from the library. She told me that she did not think she had that option as her rural library was not that good. I am grateful that our local library has an excellent collection of craft books to borrow. Not everyone has access to a quality library.
Thank you for reminding us how grateful we should be be for our public libraries. I've depended on public libraries ever since I first learned to read and I don't know how I would get along with out them even now. Libraries are a lifelong gift.