Library Card Sign-up Month

September is Library Card Sign-up Month and I thought this would be a good opportunity to promote the Library Card page on the Library History Buff website. The 1877 library card above is for the M. E. Sabbath School in Washington, Ohio and is part of my librariana collection. Some early libraries including the Boston Athenaeum and the New York Mercantile Library used the terminology "library ticket" to refer to the artifact which authorizes the library user to borrow books. I kind of like the use of the word ticket for this purpose. After all, your library card is your ticket to ..... In doing a Google search I found that Norway was using the terminology "library ticket" or "lanekoret" for a program to provide access to its 2500 libraries using a single card or ticket. The idea for a single card that provides access to all libraries in a single state is one of those ideas that sounds great but is extremely difficult to implement. I'm happy that my library card permits me to use any public library that is a member of the South Central Library System in Wisconsin.