Colleagues:
In the next 25 years hundreds of public and academic libraries will be celebrating their 150th anniversaries. I have chosen to do a history of the San Francisco Public Library for its 150th in 2029, a year in which four other major CA libraries (Stockton, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento) are also 150. Far as I know, I’m the only one in CA doing this.
I encourage all library historians to give consideration to doing the same with important libraries in their areas, or beginning and monitoring projects like McGill’s. Our profession seems to care so little about its history that “celebrations” are at least one way to add to librarianship’s body of literature, still woefully inadequate for such a ubiquitous cultural and educational institution.
–Wayne Wiegand