Tag: digitization

Library War Service slides collection now online and browsable

Posted on by Denise Rayman
Sailor selecting a book
A sailor is shown selecting his own book to read while overseas. The poster to his right has also been digitized, viewable here.

While the battles, uniforms, and weapons that made up a World War I serviceman’s life are very well documented in the history books, the day-to-day monotony of a soldier’s life doesn’t often get as much attention. The ALA Archives has recently migrated our collection of digitized lantern slides from World War I into the CONTENTdm system, which shows one way these men filled their downtime: reading.

View the complete Library War Service images collection here.

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Early ALA Posters now Digitized and Online

Posted on by Denise Rayman
A woman in classical robes holds books under one arm while holding aloft the ALA seal, superimposed over a map of the United States.
Promotional poster for the ALA 50th Anniversary

Posters used by the ALA during its early history are now digitized for long-term preservation and access copies are available for viewing online. [Database currently down, 3/8/2019] Subjects covered in these posters include the ALA’s work with the Library War Service to the American military during World War I, the importance of the freedom to read used during World War II, celebrating the ALA 50 Year Anniversary (in 1926) and the Carnegie Centenary (in 1935), as well as librarianship recruitment and general library promotion during the early twentieth century. These posters provide important documentary evidence of both the work of the ALA and how the presentation of American libraries and librarianship has changed over the past century.

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