Fiat Lux, Fiat Latebra
A Celebration of Historical Library Functions (1999)
By D. W. Krummel
Read this classic essay of library history, which outlines The Seven Ages of Librarianship, at:
https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items/4041
This video focusing on Eliza Atkins Gleason, who has an LHRT award named after her, is part of When They Dared to Be Powerful, a podcast series about Black women in librarianship. “This series centers the contributing authors—and the extraordinary librarians—featured in The Legacy of Black Women in Librarianship, edited by Dr. Nicole A. Cooke.”
Find out more about Dr. Cooke’s Black Librarians Project at https://lhrt.news/librarians-we-have-lost-sesquicentennial-memories-1976-2026/
Save the date! LHRT is sponsoring a free webinar in honor of our friend and colleague Kathleen de la Peña McCook, whom you know from her recent leadership on the Librarians We Have Lost series. During this session, we will bring together the authors of the Public Libraries Quarterly issue, “In Service of Equity: Essays in Honor of Kathleen de la Peña McCook,” to highlight the historical aspects that connect to her work on community building, human rights, and equity in library services.
Date: February 25, 2026
Time: 11:00 a.m. Eastern/10:00 Central/9:00 Mountain/8:00 Pacific.
Zoom link: https://umsystem.zoom.us/j/92890701058
Please join us and spread the word!
From the Triangle Tribune: “The Harrison Library first opened its doors on Nov. 12, 1935, in a storefront on West Hargett Street, offering library services to Black residents for the first time in Wake County…”
Those of us in the library history community are familiar with the fantastic work of Mike Selby, Deputy Director of Cranbrook Public Library in British Columbia, Canada, and author of the Choice-reviewed “highly recommended” book Freedom Libraries: The Untold Story of Libraries for African Americans in the South. I’m excited to let everyone know that Mike has just released his next book: Who We Are – 100 Years of History – Cranbrook Public Library. As I have noted when the first chapter was released as a teaser, Mike’s new book has the same journalistic flair and engaging storytelling as Freedom Libraries. It is packed full of incredibly well-done galleries of photos. Every page you flip to will draw you in and make you want to learn more.
This will be a great acquisition for fans of Mike’s work and for those who wish to learn about and support (proceeds go to Cranbrook Public Library) Canadian libraries. Also recommended as an exemplar for anyone out there planning to write their local library’s history! Copies are available for purchase via the link below:
Best,
Brett
Greetings!
Please join us online for The AL Library History Roundtable’s (LHRT) media discussion group, LHRT Reads on Thursday, February 12th, 2026, at 7pm Eastern Time. We will be discussing Scattered and Fugitive Things: How Black Collectors Created Archives and Remade History by Laura Helton. Dr. Helton will be joining us for an Author Q&A.
Advanced registration is required. Here is the registration link:
https://ala-events.zoom.us/meeting/register/orlA6B2cSheoQsa0DRw14g
Note: This event will not be recorded.
If you would like to participate but cannot access the book from a local library or afford to allocate resources towards its purchase, please email the co-organizers, Amanda Belantara and Michele Fenton. We look forward to seeing you there!
Amanda Belantara & Michele Fenton
ALA Library History Round Table (LHRT) Reads
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Michele Fenton
Librarian I/Cataloger
Indiana State Library
Indianapolis, IN
mfenton@library.in.gov
(317) 234-4937
Another fascinating piece on library history by LHRT member Anita Coleman!
https://infophilia.substack.com/p/the-librarians-missing-from-americas
Explore and subscribe to her blog, Infophilia, at https://infophilia.substack.com/
As we enter a new year, we can reach back to the past for guidance.
As such, please enjoy a profound and wonderfully-crafted biography of Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan, one of the greatest progenitors of librarianship, by LHRT member Dr. Anita Sundaram Coleman. This article will charge us up for the coming year, as it discusses Ranganathan’s Five Laws in an age of AI:
LHRT News & Notes is honored to host this open access research project completed by Dr. Joseph Winberry and his library history students at the University of North Carolina’s School of Information and Library Sciences! Through this course assignment, Dr. Winberry and his students created biographical profiles of influential librarians as part of their library history course. There is so much to learn from the lives of these librarians; their stories offer ideas that can help us pilot the future of the profession. Read Dr. Winberry’s lucid discussion of this project and access the student essays below:
https://www.cntraveler.com/story/7-stunning-libraries-housed-within-unesco-world-heritage-sites
And don’t forget to check out our compilation of virtual tours of historic libraries!: https://lhrt.news/virtual-tours-of-historic-libraries/