Enjoy Tiffney Sanford’s latest post on the history of the Los Angeles Public Library, The Charming Miss Darlow.

Darlow was a phenomenal librarian that library historians should become more familiar with…Tiffney notes that she was “a poet, a stellar book reviewer, a master at matching readers to books, and likely the most traveled library worker across Southern California in the early twentieth century.”

Beautifully illustrated and featuring reproductions on primary sources, the post includes a comic depicting LAPL…and, for those who are captivated by historic library furniture like myself, be sure to catch the photos of the newspaper reading tables in one of the top photos!

Best,

Brett

Phyllis Dain Library History Dissertation Award

Library History Round Table (LHRT)

American Library Association

CHICAGO — The Library History Round Table (LHRT) is pleased to announce that this year’s Phyllis Dain Library History Dissertation Award winner is Dr. Alexandra (Alex) Schultz for her dissertation, “Imagined Histories: Hellenistic Libraries and the Idea of Greece.” Dr. Schultz is currently a Research Fellow in Classics at Jesus College, Cambridge, and will start as an Assistant Professor of Classics at Dartmouth College in July. She received her Ph.D. in Classical Philology from Harvard University (2021). Her dissertation examines the histories of Hellenistic libraries, actual and imaginary, and how these shaped ideas about Greece, Rome, and the supposed origins of Western Civilization.

Dr. Schultz’s ambitious and thorough work impressed members of the award committee, and deserves the Library History Round Table’s praise for her argument that “Only by studying the history of libraries as institutions and as ideas can we understand this important confluence of literature and power in the ancient world” (35). Her massive research scope included exploration of the shift from private, personal collections to immense public-facing libraries in the wake of Alexander the Great’s conquests. Instead of emphasizing great men narratives of library establishment, she highlights the roles of ordinary people, from free male citizens to enslaved knowledge workers, in building and sustaining private and public libraries.

The biennial Phyllis Dain Library History Dissertation Award, named in honor of a library historian widely known as a supportive advisor and mentor as well as a rigorous scholar and thinker, recognizes outstanding dissertations in English in the general area of library history. The author of the selected dissertation receives a certificate and five hundred dollars.

We would like to highlight some exciting work being done on the history of South California libraries. Tiffney Sanford, Administrative Clerk at the Los Angeles Public Library, has authored a series of wonderfully-crafted posts on LAPL’s blog that offer stories and images that you’ll find intriguing! Many thanks to her for bringing the history of one of America’s largest libraries to the web.

Library workers

Eleanor Brodie Jones: Hollywood Star Librarian

https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/librarian-history-eleanor-brodie-jones

Monica Shannon: Advocate for Libraries, Leprechauns and Luckless Pigwidgeons

https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/monica-shannon-advocate-libraries-leprechauns-and-luckless

Celebrating Mr. Cobb on National Library Workers Day

http://lalibrarytour.blogspot.com/2022/04/celebrating-mr-cobb-on-national-library.html

Libraries

The Library and the Department Store: Hamburger Building (1908-1914)

https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/library-and-department-store-hamburger-building-1908-1914

Dig Los Angeles: Hollywood Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library

https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/dig-los-angeles-hollywood-branch-los-angeles-public-library

Los Angeles Public Library Moved to City Hall in 1889

http://lalibrarytour.blogspot.com/2021/09/los-angeles-public-library-moved-to.html

Los Angeles Public Library Opens in the Metropolitan Building

http://lalibrarytour.blogspot.com/2021/06/los-angeles-public-library-opens-in.html

The 7½ Los Angeles Public Library Branches Named After Women

https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/seven-half-los-angeles-public-library-branches-named-after-women

Libraries in Southern California Named After Women

http://lalibrarytour.blogspot.com/2022/03/libraries-in-southern-california-named.html

Pomona Carnegie Library Opened June 11, 1903

http://lalibrarytour.blogspot.com/2021/06/pomona-carnegie-library-opened-june-11.html

The Story of the Texas Twin to the Old Lancaster Branch of the Los Angeles County Library

http://lalibrarytour.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-story-of-texas-twin-to-old.html

Library services

Tribute to the Traveling Branch

https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/tribute-traveling-branch

A Look at the Mobilibraries of the Los Angeles County Library

http://lalibrarytour.blogspot.com/2021/04/a-look-at-mobilibraries-of-los-angeles.html

The Wartime Information Desk of the Los Angeles Public Library

http://lalibrarytour.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-wartime-information-desk-of-los.html

Reading Spaces in Modern Japan: The Evolution of Sites and Practices of Reading

Summary from Publisher Site: “This study provides an accessible overview of the range of reading spaces in modern Japan, and the evolution thereof from a historical perspective.”

https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009181020

The book is available to view online for free until March 22nd!:

Congratulations to Sara A. Howard and Steven A. Knowlton on this publication!:

Browsing through Bias: The Library of Congress Classification and Subject Headings for African American Studies and LGBTQIA Studies

Authored by Sara A. Howard and Steven A. Knowlton

Library Trends 67 (1), Summer 2018

The article was recently announced to be among the most-read Hopkins Press articles for 2022 in Project MUSE database!