LHRT NEWS AND NOTES

https://icms.confex.com/icms/2027/prelim.cgi/Session/8653

https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/out-of-sight-out-of-mind-missing-stories-in-american-library-history-faith-in-our-future

This is a wonderful piece, contextualized in history, that will fire us all with inspiration for the future of libraries:

https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/library-advocacy-now-faith-in-our-future

https://pen.org/report/out-of-circulation/

The authors note that “in 2026, the role of the public library as an essential democratic institution is in profound jeopardy…”

Vanessa Warne. By Touch Alone: Blindness and Reading in Nineteenth-Century Culture.

“Using archives of the Center for the Impossible at Fondren Library, Rice University”

https://kathleenmccook.substack.com/p/archive-x-unexplained-phenomena?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=321273&post_id=213690119&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=51xvh&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Greetings!

Please join us online for the ALA Library History Roundtables (LHRT) media discussion group, LHRT Reads on Thursday, October 22, 2026, at 7pm Eastern Time. We will be discussing  Bibliotactics: Libraries and the Colonial Public in Vietnam by Cindy Anh Nguyen.  We are happy to share an update: Dr Nguyen will be joining us for the discussion!!

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

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

He did some incredible work–and an award is named after him. Find out more about this leader of the field at his recently updated wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldo_Gifford_Leland

• Tel-Med: an innovative 1980s telehealth service in Meadville
• Searching for librarians of color in PA
• The historical value of library newsletters
• Population shifts and the origins (1980s) of Palmer Township’s library

Find all of Bernadette’s posts on her blog at https://palibhist.blogspot.com/

The Library History Round Table (LHRT) of the American Library Association (ALA) is pleased to announce our 15th Library History Seminar (LHS) and we’d like to offer you an opportunity to share your research!

LHS XV will take place virtually December 3-5, 2026. 

The theme of the conference is “A History of Modern Libraries, Warts and All: Development, Organization, and Transformation.” 

The American Library Association is celebrating its 150th year in 2026 and LHS XV seeks to explore all aspects of the history of modern libraries and librarianship in North America and beyond. “Libraries” is defined broadly and includes public, academic, school and special libraries, library organizations (state, national, and international).  We especially welcome voices from marginalized and non-mainstream communities, and critical examinations of the history of modern libraries/librarianship.  

The conference will be low-cost or no-cost for attendees. The submissions deadline is Sept. 4, 2026. For more information and to submit your proposal, please go to Library History Seminar XV CFP/Submission Form

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Ellen Pozzi, MIS, PhD
Retired
She/Her/Hers
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