Welcome to the Library History Round Table (LHRT)’s Virtual Librariana Museum! Please click on an exhibit below to start browsing, or scroll down to read more about the purpose and background of the Museum, visit other collections of librariana available in person or on the web, and find ways to support LHRT.
In launching this section of our blog, we would like to honor and express immense thanks to Larry Nix, LHRT member and the founder of The Library History Buff Blog and The Library History Buff Site. His years of pioneering work compiling librariana have set the precedent for LHRT and other collectors of library artifacts.
Purpose and Background of the Virtual Museum
The purpose of the Virtual Museum is to exhibit photos of artifacts of library history (such as card catalogs, stamps, check out cards, book tools) from disparate libraries and private collections in a curated online gallery.
Although libraries are one of human society’s greatest cultural institutions, there are few museums dedicated to collecting the artifacts of libraries. Sweden and The Netherlands are among the few nations to have librariana museums. In many nations, scattered librariana collections are housed as part of larger university archives or book history institutes.
In the United States, there have been discussions about a museum to collect library artifacts many times over the years on ALA and LHRT discussion boards. However, there are no physical museums for library artifacts in the United States currently. For further discussion on the need for an American library history museum and past efforts to create one, please see Larry Nix’s page on the The Library History Buff.
Hence, LHRT offers this Virtual Librariana Museum to help fill the gap until hopefully one day every nation has a museum to preserve its librariana.
Enjoy the Exhibit Hall below courtesy of volunteers who have submitted images! Additional collections of physical or virtual collections of librariana are listed under the Exhibit Hall.
How to Contribute
Please consider helping LHRT expand the Virtual Librariana Museum by sending pictures of artifacts from your libraries along with captions detailing, if possible, the name of the item, the approximate age, library where the item was found, and any other relevant or interesting facts to lhrtnewsandnotes@gmail.com. Nearly any format for the pictures (JPG, PGN, PDF) will work. Thank you for helping us virtually preserve treasures of library history!
Exhibit 1: “Tianyi Ge” (天一閣) (Tianyi Pavilion or Tianyi Chamber) in Ningbo, China (Raymond Pun)
Exhibit 2: Card Catalog, Horace W. Sturgis Library
Exhibit 3: Library Hand, Jones Memorial Library, Dunbar Branch
Exhibit 4: Reading Passport, Denver Public Library
Exhibit 5: Cummins Perforating Machine Pomona College (Carnegie) Library
Exhibit 6: Anniversary Passport Altadena (CA) Public Library
Exhibit 7: Journey Through Time Brochure Cerritos (CA) Library
Exhibit 8: Typing Room Sign, Hanley Library, University of Pittsburgh Bradford
Exhibit 9: Card Catalogs & Check Out Cards, Snowden Library, Lycoming College
Exhibit 10: Newspaper Article about Lack of Public Library, Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada
Exhibit 11: Speedy Mending Kit, Lafayette College Library
Other Collections of Librariana
>The Library History Buff Blog and The Library History Buff site by Larry T. Nix comprise the greatest collections of virtual librariana on the web. Rich curated collections of postcards, stamps, and much more are showcased.
>The American Library Association Archives at the University of Illinois includes print materials and artifacts. It also offers a growing digital collection of historical images that feature many library artifacts, including card catalogs, postcards, bookmarks, posters, and more.
>The Virtual Tours of Historic Libraries page on our blog lets you stroll through historic libraries and discover artifacts.
>A Guide to Collecting Librariana by Norman D. Stevens offers an extensive list of the various types of librariana along with brief (and humorous) descriptions about their utility and history. One of the greatest collections of physical librariana is the Norman D. Stevens Collection of Library Architecture at the Canadian Centre for Architecture. A list of the holdings can be found through the Centre’s Catalog. Larry Nix writes further about the Stevens Collection.
>Some of the Libraries at the Exposition on the World’s Fair Chicago, 1893 web site offers photos and details about several temporary librariana museums and mock libraries created for the Fair. It reproduces an 1893 article from Library Journal by Caroline Harwood Garland, Dover (New Hampshire) Public Library about the Exposition.
>The Mundaneum in Mohns, Belgium is an incredible place to learn about information innovations of the past. The European Commission describes it as providing “the foundations of present-day information science and is considered today as a precursor of internet search engines.” It preserves early organizational systems and tools and offers several online exhibits.
>The Bibliotheek Museum (Library Museum) at the Amsterdam Public Library in The Netherlands offers one of the world’s largest collections of librariana. Hans Krol created the collection, and he blogs photos and stories about the collection. Larry Nix provides more details on the Library History Buff.
>The Biblioyeksmusset in Boras, Sweden holds a large collection of librariana as described by Larry Nix.
>The American Bookbinders Museum in San Francisco, California “is the only museum of its kind in North America, celebrating and exploring the history, tools and stories of bookbinders and bookbinding, from its earliest forms through the changes and innovations of the industrial revolution.” The Museum web site offers a beautiful collection of photos of book machinery as well as an online catalog.
>The Bentley Rare Book Museum, at the Kenesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia, is a delight for the library history enthusiast. Laura Relyea of ARTS ATL eloquently describes how Bentley is more than a rare book collection, it’s a hands-on museum: “a bibliophile’s dream: a single place that houses a Bible that went to the moon, complete with notes from Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell, a copy of Strength to Love signed by Martin Luther King Jr., original copies of rarities by Louisa May Alcott. It gets better, though — not only are all of these literary gems housed in the same space, but enthusiasts can interact with them. Touch the rough, heavy feel of hand-made papers….”
>The Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking at Georgia Tech University curates online exhibits of its artifacts that will intrigue library historians interested in the creation of books. (Patrick F. Roughen, “Papermaking & The History of Libraries,” in Library Philosophy and Practice, examines connections between papermaking and library history.)