Greetings LHRT!
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.
Advanced registration is required. This event will not be recorded.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Amanda Belantara & Michele Fenton
ALA Library History Round Table (LHRT) Read
Hello LHRT !
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
LHRT Reads 2025 | What would you like to explore & discuss?
Greetings Library History Roundtable Members!
Thanks to all who joined us for LHRT Reads in 2025! We enjoyed our discussions and are excited to program next year’s selections. What works would you like to explore? We’d love to hear from you and welcome your suggestions via this form. Please share your suggestions for films, books, sound recordings, exhibitions or other media that tell the stories of libraries and other related histories. We will consider every suggestion and look forward to hearing from you. Previous LHRT Reads selections are listed below.
We will be announcing next year’s LHRT Reads selections early in the new year.
We wish you a wonderful winter season and a new year that’s full of fun and inspiration!
Warm Regards,
Amanda Belantara & Michele Fenton
LHRT Reads Co-organizers
Previous LHRT Reads Selections by year
*The asterisk indicates that the author joined LHRT Reads for a Q&A
2021
*Library : An Unquiet History By Matthew Battles
*E.J. Josey: Transformational Leader by Renate Chancellor
Freedom Libraries by Mike Selby
The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer
*Regina Anderson Andrews: Harlem Renaissance Librarian by Etheline Whitmire
*Information Hunters: When Librarians, Soldiers, and Spies Banded Together in World War II Europe by Kathy Peiss
2022
The Meaning of the Library, Edited by Alice Crawford
*The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
Syria’s Secret Library by Mike Thomson
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
2023
Toute la mémoire du monde by Alain Resnais
Apostles of Culture: The Public Librarian and American Society, 1876-1920 by Dee Garrison
*American Public School Librarianship: A History by Wayne A. Wiegand
*Index, A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age by Dennis Duncan
2024
*Public in Name Only: The 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-In Demonstration by Brenda Mitchell-Powell
*Overdue: Reckoning with the Public Library by Amanda Oliver
The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann
*Torn from their Bindings: A Story of Art, Science, and the Pillaging of American University Libraries by Travis McDade
*The Dictionary People by Sarah Ogilvie
2025
*Us & The Night, directed by Audrey Lam
*In Silence or Indifference: Racism and Jim Crow Segregated Public School Libraries by Wayne Wiegand
*The Untold Story of Books: A Writer’s History of Book Publishing by Michael Castleman
*The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss
Please join the Library History Roundtable online for the next LHRT Reads on Thursday, October 30th at 7pm Eastern Time. We will be discussing The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss. Evan will be joining us near the end of the event for an author Q&A, so please bring your questions! Advanced registration is required. The 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 LHRT Reads co-organizers, Amanda Belantara and Michele Fenton.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Amanda Belantara & Michele Fenton
LHRT Reads Co-organizers
Please join us online for the roundtable’s next LHRT Reads on August 28th at 7pm Eastern Time. We will be discussing The Untold Story of Books: A Writer’s History of Book Publishing by Michael Castleman. Advanced registration is required.
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 LHRT Reads co-organizers, Amanda Belantara and Michele Fenton.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Amanda Belantara & Michele Fenton
LHRT Reads Co-organizers
Please join us online for the next LHRT Reads on Thursday, June 5, 2025. We will be discussing In Silence or Indifference: Racism and Jim Crow Segregated Public School Libraries by Wayne Wiegand. Wayne has kindly agreed to join us at the end of our discussion for an author Q&A. Please bring your questions!
The event will begin at 7pm Eastern Time. Register here. Advanced registration is required.
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 LHRT Reads co-organizers, Amanda Belantara and Michele Fenton.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Amanda Belantara & Michele Fenton
LHRT Reads Co-organizers
Greetings!
Please join us for the next Library History Round Table (LHRT) Reads on April 24, 2025 at 7:00pm (Eastern Time) online. We will discuss the film, Us & the Night directed by Audrey Lam . Audrey Lam has kindly agreed to join us for a Q&A. Advanced registration is required. A special link to view the film online will be made available courtesy of the director and provided to registered attendees only.
The event will begin at 7:00pm (Eastern Time). To register:
https://ala-events.zoom.us/meeting/register/RhHe_ZpwQn2x9C1CfspAYw
We’re excited to see you there!
Change to April Program
Greetings everyone!
A few weeks ago, we announced that we would discuss The Book at War by Andrew Pettegree at the LHRT Reads event on April 10th. However, we are making a change in the schedule and will instead discuss the film, Us & the Night directed by Audrey Lam on April 24th at 7:00pm (Eastern Time). A special link to view the film online will be made available courtesy of the director and provided to registered attendees only. Audrey Lam has kindly agreed to join us for a Q&A.
Registration details will be sent out soon.
Thanks for understanding and we hope that you will join us on April 24th to discuss a dreamy essay film that takes place in an academic library.
Sincerely,
Michele Fenton and Amanda Belantara, organizers
ALA Library History Round Table (LHRT) Reads
LHRT Reads 2025
We are pleased to announce the selections for the upcoming year of the ALA Library History Round Table (LHRT) Reads, the Library History Roundtable’s media discussion club. We chose these titles based on your suggestions and are excited to read them along with you. The first title we will discuss:
April 10, 2025 – The Book at War by Andrew Pettegree
Other titles we will discuss this year:
May 2025 – Film (Title TBD)
June 5, 2025 – In Silence or Indifference: Racism and Jim Crow Segregated Public School Libraries by Wayne Wiegand
August 2025 – The Untold Story of Books: A Writer’s History of Book Publishing by Michael Castleman
October 2025 – The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Priss
We hope you’ll be able to join us. We will send registration details for the first event soon. Stay tuned!
We would also like to share that LHRT has kindly allocated a small, limited fund to expand participation in LHRT Reads. If you would like to participate but cannot access the books from a local library or afford to allocate resources towards their purchase, please email the LHRT Reads co-organizers. Thanks to former LHRT Chair Bernadette Lear for spearheading this idea and the LHRT Executive Committee for its support of this initiative.
LHRT Reads 2025 | What would you like to explore & discuss?
Thanks to all who joined us for LHRT Reads in 2024! We enjoyed our discussions and are excited to program next year’s selections. What works would you like to explore? We’d love to hear from you and welcome your suggestions via this form. Please share your suggestions for films, books, sound recordings, exhibitions or other media that tell the stories of libraries and other related histories. We will consider every suggestion and look forward to hearing from you. Previous LHRT Reads selections are listed below.
We will be announcing next year’s LHRT Reads selections early in the new year.
We wish you a wonderful winter season and a new year that’s full of fun and inspiration!
Warm Regards,
Amanda Belantara & Michele Fenton
LHRT Reads Co-organizers
Previous LHRT Reads Selections by year
*The asterisk indicates that the author joined LHRT Reads for a Q&A
2021
*Library : An Unquiet History By Matthew Battles
*E.J. Josey: Transformational Leader by Renate Chancellor
Freedom Libraries by Mike Selby
The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer
*Regina Anderson Andrews: Harlem Renaissance Librarian by Etheline Whitmire
*Information Hunters: When Librarians, Soldiers, and Spies Banded Together in World War II Europe by Kathy Peiss
2022
The Meaning of the Library, Edited by Alice Crawford
*The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
Syria’s Secret Library by Mike Thomson
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
2023
Toute la mémoire du monde by Alain Resnais
Apostles of Culture: The Public Librarian and American Society, 1876-1920 by Dee Garrison
*American Public School Librarianship: A History by Wayne A. Wiegand
*Index, A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age by Dennis Duncan
2024
*Public in Name Only: The 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-In Demonstration by Brenda Mitchell-Powell
*Overdue: Reckoning with the Public Library by Amanda Oliver
The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann
*Torn from their Bindings: A Story of Art, Science, and the Pillaging of American University Libraries by Travis McDade
*The Dictionary People by Sarah Ogilvie
Join us for the next LHRT Reads | 12/12/24 7pm Eastern Time
We hope you can join us online for the next LHRT Reads on Thursday, December 12, 2024. We will be discussing The Dictionary People: The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary by Sarah Ogilve. Sarah Ogilve is a linguist, lexicographer, writer, and technologist. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, where she directs a new degree in Digital Humanities and has served as a Curator of the Bodleian Library. She has taught at Stanford University, and currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Stanford Libraries.
Author Q&A
Dr. Ogilve has kindly agreed to join us at the start of our discussion for an author Q&A. Please bring your questions!
The event will begin at 7pm EST. Advanced registration is required.
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 LHRT Reads co-organizers, Amanda Belantara and Michele Fenton.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Amanda Belantara & Michele Fenton
LHRT Reads Co-organizers
Please join us online for the next Library History Round Table (LHRT) Reads on Thursday, October 17, 2024. We will be discussing Torn from Their Bindings: A Story of Art, Science, and the Pillaging of American University Libraries by Travis McDade. McDade has kindly agreed to join us at the end of our discussion for an author Q&A. Please bring your questions!
The event will begin at 7pm EST. Advanced registration is required, please visit
https://ala-events.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAvcumvqD8uHdLCcdFz-eBGhSmr74LFp26i to register.
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 LHRT Reads co-organizers, Amanda Belantara and Michele Fenton.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Amanda Belantara & Michele Fenton
LHRT Reads Co-organizers
Greetings LHRT!
Please join us online for the next LHRT Reads on Thursday, August 29, 2024. We will be discussing The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann.
The event will begin at 7pm EST. Advance registration is required.
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 LHRT Reads co-organizers, Amanda Belantara and Michele Fenton.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Amanda Belantara & Michele Fenton
LHRT Reads Co-organizers
LHRT Reads May 16, 2024
Please join us online for the next LHRT Reads on Thursday, May 16, 2024. We will be discussing Overdue: Reckoning with the Public Library By Amanda Oliver. Oliver has kindly agreed to join us at the end of our discussion for an author Q&A. Please bring your questions!
The event will begin at 6pm EST. In response to community requests, we’re trying out an earlier start time. Advance registration is required.
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 LHRT Reads co-organizers, Amanda Belantara and Michele Fenton.
LHRT Reads March 21, 2024
Please join us online for the next LHRT Reads on March 21, 2024. We will be discussing Public in Name Only: The 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-In Demonstration by Brenda Mitchell-Powell. Dr. Mitchell-Powell will be joining us for an author Q&A.
The event will begin at 7pm EST. Advance registration is required.
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 LHRT Reads co-organizers, Michele Fenton and Amanda Belantara.
LHRT Reads 2024 Selections
We are pleased to announce the selections for the upcoming year of LHRT Reads, the Library History Roundtable’s media discussion club. We chose the titles below based on your suggestions and are excited to read them along with you. We hope you’ll be able to join us. We will send registration details for the first event in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
Mar 21, 2024
Public in Name Only: The 1939 Alexandria Library Sit-In Demonstration by Brenda Mitchell-Powell
May 16, 2024
Overdue: Reckoning with the Public Library by Amanda Oliver
August 29, 2024
The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann
October 17, 2024
Torn from their Bindings: A Story of Art, Science, and the Pillaging of American University Libraries
Dec. 12, 2024
The Dictionary People by Sarah Ogilvie
We would also like to share that LHRT has kindly allocated a small, limited fund to expand participation in LHRT Reads. If you would like to participate but cannot access the books from a local library or afford to allocate resources towards their purchase, please email the LHRT Reads co-organizers. Thanks to former LHRT Chair Bernadette Lear for spearheading this idea and the LHRT Executive Committee for its support of this initiative.
Hello LHRT!
We are pleased to announce the selections for the upcoming year of LHRT Reads. We chose these titles based on your suggestions and are excited to read these titles along with you. We hope you’ll be able to join us. We will send registration details for the first event in the coming weeks.
We would also like to share that LHRT has kindly allocated a limited fund to expand participation in LHRT Reads. If you would like to participate in LHRT Reads but cannot afford to allocate money towards the purchase of these books nor access them from a local library, please contact the LHRT Reads co-organizers by emailing lhrtnewsandnotes@gmail.com
Greetings LHRT!
Thank you for another wonderful year of LHRT Reads! We are in the process of identifying titles for next year’s LHRT Reads. We would love to hear from you! What library history titles would you like to discuss? Let us know by filling in this form. We will announce the selections in the new year. We look forward to hearing from you.
In previous years, we read and discussed the following:
2021
- Library : An Unquiet History By Matthew Battles
- E.J. Josey: Transformational Leader by Renate Chancellor
- Freedom Libraries by Mike Selby
- The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer
- Regina Anderson Andrews: Harlem Renaissance Librarian by Etheline Whitmire
- Information Hunters: When Librarians, Soldiers, and Spies Banded Together in World War II Europe by Kathy Peiss
2022:
- The Meaning of the Library, Edited by Alice Crawford
- The Personal Librarian By Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray
- Syria’s Secret Library by Mike Thomson
- The Library Book, Susan Orlean
2023
- Toute la mémoire du monde by Alain Resnais – Feb 16, 2023
- Apostles of Culture: The Public Librarian and American Society, 1876-1920
- by Dee Garrison – May 18, 2023
- American Public School Librarianship: A History by Wayne A. Wiegand – Oct 26, 2023
- Index, A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age by Dennis Duncan – December 14, 2023
LHRT Reads 2023
Is there a library history title you’d love to read? If so, let us know which titles you’d like to see on the selection list for LHRT Reads 2023 by completing this survey. We can’t wait to hear from you!