Salem Press has announced its Library Blog Awards, and I'm pleased to report that the Library History Buff Blog received the second place award in the Quirky Library Blogs category. Hey, "quirky" works for me.
New Book Areas
June 1st, 2010 by Matthew Collins No comments »The Ignacio Catalog now displays the status “New Book Areas” for all the new material displayed in Gleeson Library!
There are three New Book Areas to browse.
The first New Book Areas is located just west of the main entrance between the Circulation and Reference desks. 
The second highlights new art books, and is located on the far side of the Reference desk near the entrance to our Government Documents Room.
The third New Book Area is located in the study lounge just beyond the Thacher Gallery.
Carnegie Library for Rent
June 1st, 2010 by Larry T. Nix No comments »
I reported earlier on a historic Carnegie library building for sale in Duluth, Minnesota. Now there may be an even better opportunity to be closely involved with a Carnegie library building. The Jeffersonville Carnegie Library Foundation in Jeffersonville, Indiana is offering its fully restored Carnegie library up for rent at a minimal rental cost. The Foundation has spent more than $4 million dollars in restoring the building. Jeffersonville is just across the river from Louisville, Kentucky. The details are reported on courier-journal.com. A press release with more information is located HERE. For more about the rental, call the Foundation's representative Robyn Sekula at (812) 981-8223 or e-mail her at robynsekula@sbcglobal.net . There were 155 communities in Indiana that received Carnegie library building grants, more than any other state. Judy Aulik has a nice selection of Indiana Carnegie library postcards, including the Jeffersonville library, on her website. Thanks to Paul Nelson for the heads up on this story.
Library of Congress War Memorial Tree
May 31st, 2010 by Larry T. Nix No comments »
The Library Journal of January 1, 1921 reported on the planting of a memorial tree at the Library of Congress on December 7, 1920 to honor four Library of Congress employees who lost their lives in World War I. The ceremony was presided over by Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam. There were 89 Library of Congress male employees out of a total of 215 that enlisted during the war. The memorial tree still survives on the grounds of the Library of Congress Jefferson Building. The photographs above are from takomabibelot's Flickr photostream. There have, of course, been other library employees who have lost their lives in war while away from their library jobs during wartime. I am aware that both the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library have acknowledged such sacrifices of their employees during World War II. I am interested in finding more information about war memorials for library employees.
Two Librarians and the Internment of Japanese Americans
May 30th, 2010 by Larry T. Nix No comments »
"On the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941 a way of life ended for all persons of Japanese ancestry residing in California. Their communities and the very existence they had known were abruptly, and with a grim finality, terminated by the mass uprooting and exile of all men, women, and children of Japanese descent." "The attack on Pearl Harbor not only drew the United States into war, but within six months resulted in the detention of over 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry by the United States government. Of this number, 70,000 were citizens of the United States by virtue of jus soli, a status they had acquired by being born in the United States of America." The quotations above are taken from an extensive online article in the Journal of San Diego History about the experiences of Japanese American residents of San Diego in the Poston Camps of the Colorado River Relocation Project in Arizona. The envelope above was the stimulus for my exploration of one of the more shameful episodes in American history. As a result I learned about the roles of two librarians in this regretful episode.
The first librarian is identified on the envelope above. She is Ethel M. Manning and she was in charge of the Central School Library located at Poston Camp 2. Manning, a former employee of the California State Library, was employed by the War Relocation Authority (WRA) which was established to administer the relocation camps. The Central School Library served all three of the Poston camps.
The second librarian is Clara E. Breed who at the time of the relocation was the Children's Librarian at the San Diego Public Library. Breed went on to become Director of the San Diego Public Library, and in 1983 wrote Turning the Pages: San Diego Public Library History 1882-1982. In her book Breed writes the following about the impact on the young Japanese users of the San Diego public Library: " Most of the Japanese children had been good readers and regular borrowers from the main library Children's Room. When they came to the library to return their last books and surrender their cards, they were given stamped postal cards and told, 'Write to us. We'll want to know where you are and how you are getting along, and we'll send you some books to read.' 'OK,' they answered, with a brief brightening of sober faces. As long as the war lasted, packages of new books, publisher's review copies, were mailed regularly to Santa Anita or Poston. Letters and occasional gifts -a carved wooden pendant or a corsage of crepe paper - came back in gratitude." A book Dear Miss Breed (Scholastic, 2006) has been written by Joanne Oppenheim about the role Clara Breed played in this period. A collection of over 300 letters received by Clara Breed can be viewed online at the Japanese American National Museum. The Smithsonian Institution has developed an online lesson plan for school children around the Clara Breed letters.
The inscription signed by Clara Breed which is shown above came from my copy of Turning the Pages.
