With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, the ALA Archives can’t help but think of love. The spirit of the holiday compels us to remember possibly the most famous ALA couple of all time, Henry and Edith Wallbridge Carr. Married for 43 years and active in the American Library Association for even longer, the Carrs were well-known within the library community of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Where did the romance of these two librarians begin? At an ALA conference, of course!
This blog post is part of a series exploring the important events and people in ALA’s history for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of ALA in 2026.
Almost 60 years ago, the Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) of the American Library Association needed a partner in the fight for intellectual freedom. The 1960s brought concerns about censorship, freedom of the press, the freedom to read – and the impact on librarians who sought to uphold the values within the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read Statement. The ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) was the solution, providing support and education on intellectual freedom to librarians and the public.[1] Little did they know how vital the OIF would become to the fight against book challenges and censorship and to the support of librarianship and the freedom to read everywhere. Continue reading “Fighting Censors and Book Bans: Establishing the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom”→
This blog post is part of a series exploring the important events and people in ALA’s history for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of ALA in 2026.
The Advance Attendance Register for the Richmond Conference displayed a rendering of the White House of the Confederacy.
Wilson Bulletin editor, Stanley J. Kunitz, called it the “The Spectre at Richmond” – but the racial discrimination at the 1936 ALA Annual Conference was no ghostly apparition.[1] The conference was held in Richmond, Virginia, a city with Jim Crow era racial segregation laws. While the American Library Association itself had no segregation or discriminatory policies, up until 1936 they had not established any ruling against holding a conference in a segregated city where members would be subject to discrimination. Thus, “the Spectre” marched into the halls of the hotels and auditoriums, reminding all librarians present that there was still work to be done. Continue reading “Librarians, Segregated: The 1936 ALA Annual Conference”→
This blog post is part of a series exploring the important events and people in ALA’s history for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of ALA in 2026.
Overhead view of the entrance to Library 21 and the main exhibit space.
The ALA predicted the future 62 years ago in Seattle – the future of libraries, that is. They called their premonition “Library 21,” an exhibition at the 1962 World’s Fair. The “automated” library of the future would blend traditional library services with advancements in information technology. Partnered with companies including Remington Rand-UNIVAC, Xerox, RCA, IBM, and Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library 21 explored the importance of library services in daily life and how “electronics and information technology will have great impact on the methods we use for storing, retrieving, and communicating knowledge in the libraries of tomorrow.”[1]
The 9,000 square foot exhibit space was the first exhibit on the ground floor of the Washington State Coliseum, which drew large crowds during the Fair’s run from April 21 through October 21, 1962.[2] An estimated 1.8 million people visited Library 21 – almost 20% of the total attendance of the Fair.[3] Designed by Vance Jonson of Los Angeles and constructed by the firm Daniel, Mann, Johnson and Mendenhall, the exhibit structure itself was quite impressive. The futuristic exhibit consisted of two large circles connected to form a figure eight, with stairs from the second circle leading to the colorful Children’s World below. The circles were lit from above and surrounded by reflecting pools. Visitors approached via a bridge into the first circle, which included the UNIVAC computer, the Ready Reference Center, and the adult reading area. The second circle contained the Xerox Theater, Learning Resources Center, and other electronic exhibits. Continue reading “Library 21: ALA at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair”→
Starting early this fall, as the ALA Archives Graduate Assistant, I had the privilege of transcribing the oral history of Eldon Ray James, retired librarian, formerly incarcerated person, and advocate for the rights of incarcerated people. After transcribing over three hours of dialogue between Ray James and Deputy County Librarian at the Alameda County Library, Deb Sica, I believe I just got paid to listen to the most interesting story I’ve ever heard.
Ray James, before becoming a figurehead in the movement to secure information access for incarcerated people in the United States, served in Germany during the Vietnam War, ran for office in the Colorado House of Representatives, won awards for his amazing journalism in multiple publications, and was reportedly a part of the (unconfirmed) first interracial double date in Baylor University history. He did all of this before being sentenced to 70 months in prison for aiding in the distribution of cocaine and methamphetamines. Continue reading “Eldon Ray James Oral History”→
Alongside written records, photographs, and publications, the American Library Association Archives also holds over 150 interviews of individual librarians and library workers. These oral histories and interviews provide a vital resource of librarian recollections that may not be otherwise found in administrative records, photographs, and correspondence. These stories told by librarians and library workers provide context to their lives and career, how their experiences and education shaped their librarianship, and how certain events shaped their personal and professional lives.
While the ALA Archives does not currently have its own active oral history program, the Archives collects and supports projects that capture the voices of librarians and library workers as part of its mission to preserve the history of librarianship. Here is a small selection the oral history projects and interviews that the Archives holds: Continue reading “Oral Histories at the ALA Archives”→
Festschrifts are a common way to honor someone in academia, and line the shelves of many academic libraries. They typically contain academic essays related to the person’s life work, contributed traditionally by the person’s former doctoral students and colleagues. But what about a Festschrift that’s instead full of nothing but praise for the person being honored gathered from common workers in their field, and furthermore isn’t for an academic, but instead for a public-service librarian? This is the final issue of Libraries magazine, honoring one Mary Eileen Ahern. Continue reading “Miss “Public Libraries” Mary Eileen Ahern”→
Two library students stand just outside of the Library School Library, holding stacks of books.
People go to librarians when they need help researching, but where do librarians go when they need help with their own research? This post will explore the history of the Library Science Library at the University of Illinois, one of a few dedicated library science collections in the United States.
Prison Library Unit, Chillicothe OH, 1941 From Record Series 18/1/57, Folder: “Prison Libraries, 1936-1957”
In the mid-1930s, the American Library Association formed a Committee on the Libraries of the American Prison Association. Found in Record Series 23/40/5, this collection contains the Committee’s surveys[1] from 1936-38 of prison libraries across the nation; reports on prison librarianship which include historical information on recommended book titles and magazine subscriptions, cataloging, circulation protocols, staffing, readership habits, and testimony from prisoners; correspondence[2] of librarians, prison administrators, and prisoners; and a selection of prison newsletters and newspaper clippings. Continue reading “Library Service to Prisoners, 1936-39”→
The more things change, the more they stay the same, or so you will think when you look at this laundry list of key considerations Katherine L. Sharp outlines for someone setting up a library in her writing “Catechism for Librarians.” Unlike a religious Catechism, she outlines not what to believe but a series of questions a librarian must answer for herself. Despite being only 3 by 5 inches in size, 24 pages long, and never published, these 180 questions still provide a reasonable guide to someone setting up a library today. And their relevance is still more interesting when you consider that this was written in 1891, with no knowledge of the sweeping changes in librarianship and technology that were to come. A few of the more prescient questions are presented here in their modern context: Continue reading “Have you a card catalog? Katharine L. Sharp’s Catechism for Librarians”→
