The American Library Association (ALA) was founded in 1876. In its early years it was primarily oriented to the Northeastern states with its greater concentration of population and libraries. It was not until 1881that ALA ventured out of the East, holding its annual conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. Only forty six people attended that conference. The difficulty of travel was a major reason for the low attendance. A growing interest in library meetings at the local and state levels where travel was less of a factor led F. J. Soldan, librarian of the Peoria (Illinois) Public Library, to issue a call for a convention of librarians in the Western states. That convention took place in Springfield, Illinois on November, 22-23, 1881. It was presided over by William F. Poole, librarian of the Chicago Public Library and President of ALA in 1885-1886. As a result the interest expressed at that convention, the Western Library Association was formed "supplementary to the American Library Association". Arrangements were made to meet again in Indianapolis in October, 1882, but a second meeting was not held until December 3, 1884 in Rock Island, Illinois. Arrangements were again made to meet in Indianapolis, this time in October 1885, but there is no record that another meeting was ever held. In the 1890s state library associations were created at a rapid pace across the nation starting with the New York Library Association in 1890. The Illinois Library Association was founded in 1896. Information about the Western Library Association was found in Katharine L. Sharp's Illinois Libraries first published in 1906. The unused pre-stamped envelope above is for the Co-operative Committee of the Western Library Association with a Peoria, Illinois return address. It is a small reminder of this short-lived association which was evidently the first association of librarians created after the American Library Association. Archive for March, 2010
The Western Library Association
March 19th, 2010
The American Library Association (ALA) was founded in 1876. In its early years it was primarily oriented to the Northeastern states with its greater concentration of population and libraries. It was not until 1881that ALA ventured out of the East, holding its annual conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. Only forty six people attended that conference. The difficulty of travel was a major reason for the low attendance. A growing interest in library meetings at the local and state levels where travel was less of a factor led F. J. Soldan, librarian of the Peoria (Illinois) Public Library, to issue a call for a convention of librarians in the Western states. That convention took place in Springfield, Illinois on November, 22-23, 1881. It was presided over by William F. Poole, librarian of the Chicago Public Library and President of ALA in 1885-1886. As a result the interest expressed at that convention, the Western Library Association was formed "supplementary to the American Library Association". Arrangements were made to meet again in Indianapolis in October, 1882, but a second meeting was not held until December 3, 1884 in Rock Island, Illinois. Arrangements were again made to meet in Indianapolis, this time in October 1885, but there is no record that another meeting was ever held. In the 1890s state library associations were created at a rapid pace across the nation starting with the New York Library Association in 1890. The Illinois Library Association was founded in 1896. Information about the Western Library Association was found in Katharine L. Sharp's Illinois Libraries first published in 1906. The unused pre-stamped envelope above is for the Co-operative Committee of the Western Library Association with a Peoria, Illinois return address. It is a small reminder of this short-lived association which was evidently the first association of librarians created after the American Library Association. Princess Grace Irish Library
March 17th, 2010
In recognition of St. Patrick's Day, this post features a Monaco postage stamp which commemorates the twentieth anniversary of the Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco. It was issued on January 29, 2004. The library's website contains the following statement: "The Princess Grace Irish Library was opened in November 1984 by His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince Rainier III of Monaco — as his tribute to the attachment Princess Grace (1929‑1982) felt for her Irish origins. Operating under the aegis of the Foundation Princess Grace, the Library is situated in the former family home of the late Countess Brame-Gastaldi, a short walk from the Palace on the Rock of Monaco." food person research project assignment
March 17th, 2010
food person research project for green media
1. select a person - local or global; living or non-living - who makes media about making food. your food person can be a celebrity or not.
2. research your food person's history. use at least 3 different sources.
3. analyze your food person's techniques. analyze her/his approach, content, methods, tone, style, experience, and preferred mode/s of media. analyze at least 3 pieces of media made by your food person.
4. consider your food person in relation to your own experience with making media about making food. are there elements of your food person's technique that you wish to emulate? avoid? go beyond?
5. your research can be presented in any media necessary - paper, blog post, video, you name it.
6. edit compulsively. make your project technically and technologically flawless.
7. at least 2 of your sources must be from gleeson library - either from the collection or via link plus. put another way, at least 2 of your sources need to be texts you can hold in your hands that you physically gathered from gleeson library.
8. your project must have a works cited section. you can use any bibliographic style you wish but you must use one.
notes:
a. if this were a traditional paper, double-spaced in word, it would be around 8-10 pages.
b. your research project should interest you and people who are not you.
c. if you are taking green media as a senior seminar, you must do 2 food person research projects. your second project must be turned in no later than the last day of class (may 7). plan wisely.
due: friday, april 2, by sunset.
1. select a person - local or global; living or non-living - who makes media about making food. your food person can be a celebrity or not.
2. research your food person's history. use at least 3 different sources.
3. analyze your food person's techniques. analyze her/his approach, content, methods, tone, style, experience, and preferred mode/s of media. analyze at least 3 pieces of media made by your food person.
4. consider your food person in relation to your own experience with making media about making food. are there elements of your food person's technique that you wish to emulate? avoid? go beyond?
5. your research can be presented in any media necessary - paper, blog post, video, you name it.
6. edit compulsively. make your project technically and technologically flawless.
7. at least 2 of your sources must be from gleeson library - either from the collection or via link plus. put another way, at least 2 of your sources need to be texts you can hold in your hands that you physically gathered from gleeson library.
8. your project must have a works cited section. you can use any bibliographic style you wish but you must use one.
notes:
a. if this were a traditional paper, double-spaced in word, it would be around 8-10 pages.
b. your research project should interest you and people who are not you.
c. if you are taking green media as a senior seminar, you must do 2 food person research projects. your second project must be turned in no later than the last day of class (may 7). plan wisely.
due: friday, april 2, by sunset.
Circulating Library Trade Cards
March 16th, 2010
In the late 19th century Americans began collecting a variety of souvenirs and souvenir like artifacts. These collections were stimulated by the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Trade cards which advertised a business and included an attractive illustration were highly collectible. One of the businesses that used trade cards to advertise were circulating libraries. Circulating libraries were for-profit rental libraries that were started in the United States in the second half of the 18th century. They were an alternative to the subscription and membership libraries that preceded free public libraries. I have previously discussed Mudie's Select Library, a circulating library in England. The definitive book on circulating libraries is David Kaser's A Book For A Sixpence: The Circulating Library in America (Beta Phi Mu, 1980). The trade card for the Lewis A. Jillson's Circulating Library and News Depot in South Providence, RI is shown here. The Trade Card Place is a website which contains extensive information about trade cards and the current collecting of those cards. I have assembled a modest collection of circulating library trade cards, some of which are depicted HERE. Woodworking and Libraries
March 15th, 2010

One of the pleasures of publishing a library history website and blog is being contacted by someone seeking more information about a topic or commenting positively on your efforts. Recently I was contacted by Ray McInnis who indicated that, like me, he is a retired librarian who spends part of his time on the internet writing about his interests. Ray describes himself as an "amateur woodworker and scholar of woodworking history". He maintains a website which reflects his interest in woodworking history and records his efforts to write an online history of woodworking. The connection between Ray's interest in woodworking history and my interest in library history relates to the role played by the Minneapolis Public Library (now merged with the Hennepin County Library) in developing the Index to Handicrafts which began as an in-house index file in the 1920s and was later published as a printed index by Faxon beginning in 1936. McInnis discusses the Index to Handicrafts and other reference sources on woodworking history here. In that section of his website he also highlights a 1922 article in the Vocational Education Magazine which discusses a cooperative effort between the Minneapolis Public Library and the Dunwoody Institute (now the Dunwoody College of Technology) to provide library support for the Institute. This was at a time when the outstanding librarian Gratia Countryman led the Minneapolis Public Library and initiated many outreach efforts. There is also a section on "Woodworkers Manuals in Public Libraries" on the McInnis website.
The first image shown above depicts a traveling library bookcase that was used in Dunn County, Wisconsin in the 1890s. The bookcase is now located in the Russell J. Rassbach Heritage Museum in Menomonie, Wisconsin. The second image is a replica of the bookcase created by an amateur woodworker for an exhibit at the Menomonee Falls Public Library .