The Library of Tomorrow...Yesterday!

I ran across this rather lengthy quote while adding to my chapter on libraries from 1914-1916, and was so pleased by it I couldn’t wait to share it with you! It’s from the 1914 annual report, written by Iowa City Public Library’s librarian, Helen McRaith. Unfortunately my Internet was down yesterday (and most of today), so I had to contain my excitement until now:

“The modern idea of the function of a library is this—to study the literary needs of its own community and then to endeavor to meet these needs to the fullest extent, even if tradition must be violated in so doing.

The old-fashioned library was a cloistral place appealing only to the scholar, who moved silently among dust-covered tomes. The modern library possesses a different atmosphere and one more akin to that of a business office; most of the readers have the appearance of seeking information which will be of assistance in their daily problems rather than abstract knowledge.

There is a similar change in the appearance and attitude of the librarians. Formerly they seemed to look on the library as an end in itself and as a collection of interesting curiosities, they were willing to let it remain a stagnant literary pool. Now they must be alert specialists, keen to keep a stream of vital, useful knowledge flowing from the library to all parts of the community.” (Iowa City Public Library 1914 annual report, pg 1).

This reminds me so much of some of the current discussion circulating around the changing field of librarianship, even though it was written almost 100 years ago. Her writing has the same tone of excitement that I feel in my own blog and in reading the posts of other LIS bloggers, about the library as a place of expanding opportunities and of librarians as being people who are redefining the field rather than just participating in it.

There are a couple places in particular where her writing sounds like it could have been lifted out of a modern blog (and then had the language antiquated a bit, of course): there is so much concern right now about justifying the value of libraries, and a lot of that justification comes through pointing out that the library is used for practical purposes, as McRaith says, “…seeking information which will be of assistance in their daily problems rather than abstract knowledge.”

I especially love her last sentence: what a great comparison to the expansion of library science to include (or create) so many information studies-related specialties! Today, the public library is seen as a place where all community members can come in and access information, but there is also a view that access should be protected and increased. The Library Bill of Rights was not adopted until the 1930s, and prior to that there was more of a focus on encouraging ‘good books’ than allowing access to any materials the patron wanted. While her statement could just as easily be talking about guiding the stream of reading through promoting ‘good reading,’ it also sounds a lot like our current discussions of keeping on top of trends, promoting access, and even our discussions of the Internet and libraries (as an Open Access fanatic, it also reminds me of some of the justification we use for OA publication!)

Interesting how history repeats itself! 

Map of Censorship in Iowa Libraries during 1918

I know I've mentioned this before, but there is a wonderful Google map that shows all the book bans and challenges in the U.S. over the last 3 years.  When I ran across this map a while back, it gave me the idea to do a similar thing with the Herbert Metcalf letters that inspired my WWI Iowa libraries project. (Metcalf was the man to whom librarians around the state sent letters indicating that they had removed items from their shelves in response to his request).
I made the map and used it for a class presentation, and just recently dug it back up while I was poking around Google. For those who are interested in Iowa or World War I history, this might be of interest to you. You can find my map at this link.
There are a couple things I should point out about this map:
A cursory examination suggests that censorship activities were clustered in the Eastern half of the state. While I have no evidence to the contrary, this is not an assumption I can get behind 100 percent. Part of the reason is that we may not have all the letters written to Metcalf: some might have been destroyed or misplaced, as often happens with office paperwork.
Also, I do know for a fact that the Metcalf letters do not represent all the censorship activity taking place in Iowa that year: For example, Cedar Rapids' library removed books, but there is no letter in the Metcalf paperwork from anyone on their staff. On the contrary, there is a letter from Burlington Public Library, but no record of their removing materials anywhere in the library's records. So, while it does seem that a lot of this censorship took place in Eastern Iowa, we will never know for sure unless someone goes through the records of every Iowa public library.
Another thing to point out for those using this as a tool to study World War I-era history is that it is only for one year: and to be precise, only for the first few months of that year (1918). 1918 was the year when it seems censorship efforts really kicked into high gear (although censorship was taking place earlier than this--see Wayne Wiegand's book, An Active Instrument for Propaganda, for a national look). I point this out to avoid misleading people into thinking it covers the entire wartime period. It occurs to me that it might be helpful to go back into the map and add dates to each entry that match the dates on the letters, and hopefully I will have time to do that soon.
Lastly, these letters raise (and in some cases answer) questions about what libraries did with these books after they removed them. Most simply indicate that books were 'removed from shelves' or 'removed from circulation,' but if you look at Forest City and Villisca, you'll notice that their librarians both burnt the items they felt were 'pro-German.' Most libraries, however, do not indicate what they did with books once they were removed. The meeting minutes from Davenport Public Library indicate that theirs were held by the library board, so it is possible other libraries retained their books in storage. Also, look at Des Moines Public Library--the librarian removed a lot of items! For those who are curious, that is the same Forrest Spaulding who later drafted the Library Bill of Rights. I should point out that I don't think these libraries were intentionally throwing their patrons under the bus to get behind the war effort: I suspect they removed books because the staff and library boards felt it was in the best interest of the patrons. While I would love to know, I have yet to find out any information about whether the removed books were restored to the shelves after the war.

Highlights from Library History Seminar XII

I just got back from an awesome conference experience at Library History Seminar XII in Madison this weekend. All of the panels were incredible, and the people there were so supportive and welcoming of me (especially as a new researcher!) I feel so excited about the whole thing that I wanted to jot down some thoughts I had about the topics, and some questions the presentations raised for me.