Author: dbs21

New Blog by Bernadette Lear–In Search of Pennsylvania Library History

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Please check out the new blog by the incredible library historian and LHRT member Bernadette Lear!:

https://palibhist.blogspot.com

Her blog details her research project about the history of Pennsylvania’s public libraries during the last half of the twentieth century, and expands upon the story in her book, Made Free and Throw Open to the Public.  Some recent posts cover the Pennsylvania Library Association’s work in creating a library at the Governor’s residence and the state’s Mail Order Delivery project (1970s).

Call to Action–Writing Library Histories

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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

Reminder and Update: ALA Library History Round Table (LHRT) Reads Event: Organizing Women: Home, Work, and the Institutional Infrastructure of Print in Twentieth Century America – April 28, 2026

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Greetings!

Please join us online for the ALA Library History Roundtable’s (LHRT) media discussion group, LHRT Reads on Tuesday, April 28th, 2026 at 7pm Eastern Time. We will be discussing Organizing Women: Home, Work, and the Institutional Infrastructure of Print in Twentieth Century America by Christine Pawley. Update: The author will be joining us for the event!

Advanced registration is required. To register, please visit: ala-events.zoom.us/meeting/register/…

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

——————————
Michele Fenton
Librarian I/Cataloger
Indiana State Library
Indianapolis, IN
mfenton@library.in.gov
(317) 234-4937

Here’s Joy for National Library Week

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It is National Library Week in the United States with the theme of “Find Your Joy”!

Here are some open access articles that will spark joy: the story of LIS student Gaby Stephenson and her work in supporting Ukrainian libraries. You will also find ways to support Ukrainian libraries…what better way to celebrate libraries this week?

Many thanks to Dr. Anita Coleman for making these articles open access to ring in National Library Week!

Those Who Read to Their Heart, Win:
ALA NLLD 2026, Little Free Libraries in Ukraine with Spider-Man comics, and one California LIS student’s unexpected journey https://infophilia.substack.com/p/those-who-read-to-their-heart-win

This story “begins with a girl who loves her mom, her dad, and Model UN. Now a young woman and a graduate student in library and information science, she is following that love all the way to a Little Free Library in central Ukraine, where children are reaching for Spider-Man comics in front of handcrafted wooden libraries.”

The Living Library: The Maidan, the Ainu, and the Ethics of Preservation (Gaby Stephenson) https://infophilia.substack.com/p/the-living-library

“The Maidan Library emerged in 2014 during Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity as a ‘protest library,’ a physical collection within a temporary activist encampment. Occupying the Ukrainian House in Kyiv, volunteers transformed a conference center into a space that offered both physical and emotional warmth amid violent conflict.”

The Storied Past of American Libraries [Madeleine Schirber, U of Pennsylvania]

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The Storied Past of American Libraries

Schirber writes about the “Kenneth E. Carpenter collection of library related materials. Carpenter, a librarian originally from Pennsylvania and an alumnus of Philadelphia’s Girard College, spent nearly 40 years working in the Harvard Libraries, eventually serving as the Assistant Director for Research Resources. Passionate about his craft, Carpenter gathered a lovely collection of materials relating to libraries primarily from the 19th and 20th centuries.”

Reminder: ALA Library History Round Table (LHRT) Reads Event: Organizing Women: Home, Work, and the Institutional Infrastructure of Print in Twentieth Century America – April 28, 2026

dbs21Leave a comment

Greetings!

This is a reminder to join us online for the ALA Library History Roundtable’s (LHRT) media discussion group, LHRT Reads on Tuesday, April 28th, 2026, at 7pm Eastern Time. We will be discussing Organizing Women: Home, Work, and the Institutional Infrastructure of Print in Twentieth Century America by Christine Pawley.

Advanced registration is required. To register, please visit:  https://ala-events.zoom.us/meeting/register/SI_k_Gh9SAiZAVtvn37b2Q

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) Read

——————————
Michele Fenton
Librarian I/Cataloger
Indiana State Library
Indianapolis, IN
mfenton@library.in.gov
(317) 234-4937
——————————