New York's school-district libraries were a forerunner of the free public library. A law passed by New York's state legislature in 1835 authorized the creation of libraries in school districts which were intended to serve the general population and not just school pupils. Education reformer James S. Wadsworth (1768-1844) is considered to be the father of New York's school-district libraries. The initial law enabled school districts to tax themselves $20 the first year and $10 in succeeding years for the purpose of creating a library. New York revised its law in 1838 to provide a greater incentive for school districts to create libraries. I recently acquired a very interesting letter (see above) related to school-district libraries in New York. The letter was written on June 15, 1842 by a school-district library trustee for Moreau, NY complaining about his treatment on the library board. The trustee writes: "As respects the library of this district, I had made up my mind not to do anything about it, as there is time enough to answer the law when new trustees are chosen. I have two reasons: one is I never thought the library but little consequence, and another is I have been blamed very much since I have been a trustee, for doing what I thought was best for the district." He ends with: "My time will be out in about 5 1/2 months and I know that I shall be as glad as anyone in the district." New York was the first of a number of states to create school-district libraries.
Before the
American Library in Paris was founded in 1920 it served as the central
library for the American Library Association's Library War Service for France
during World War I. I recently added an advertising card (see above) promoting
the opening of ALA's library in Paris to my collection of librariana. The card
has a map on the back showing the location of the library. The ALA library
opened in July, 1918 and was located in the former residence of the Papal Nuncio
to the French Republic at No. 10 rue de l'Elysee. Burton Stevenson head of
the Library War Service in Europe later said, "I dare say no public library was
ever before installed amid such glittering surroundings." I was really pleased
to get the card because it will go well in a philatelic exhibit I'm putting
together for the stamp show in
Denver, CO which takes place in May. The exhibit is titled appropriately "The
American Library Association and World War I" and consists of sixteen 8 1/2 by
11 inch pages on which a variety of philatelic and other paper artifacts are
mounted. I've written blog posts about many of the items in the exhibit which
can be found
HERE. Another post about the American Library in Paris can be found
HERE. Arthur P. Young's Books for Sammies, The American Library
Association and World War I (Beta Phi Mu, 1981) was a source for some of the
information in this post.
Following its extremely successful
annual conference in 1893 at the Chicago World's Fair the American Library
Association met in 1894 at Lake Placid, New York. Melvil Dewey had pushed to
hold the conference in this resort community located in the lake country of the
Adirondack mountains. He had an ulterior motive for doing so. Dewey and
his wife Annie had purchased land in the area with the intent of creating a
private retreat for librarians and other professionals. The ALA conference
was a perfect opportunity for showcasing the beauty of the area. The
Library Journal for October, 1894 reported that "The meeting of the
A.L.A. at Lake Placid will be remembered as one of the best ever held." There were
205 registered attendees with a little more than half being women. Attendees
were from 18 states and Canada. The Library Journal report indicated that
sessions were divided between the Grand View and Mirror Lake hotels and that the
two hotels "vied with each other in making their guests comfortable and more".
Melvil and Annie Dewey did succeed in creating their Lake Placid resort for
professionals which I wrote about
here and
here. The ribbon to the left is part of my collection of ALA librariana.
One of the readers of this blog suggested that I do a
post on the 1973 American Library Association Conference in Las Vegas since it
will be meeting there again this Summer
after a 41 year hiatus. Thanks Elisa. I thought it was a great idea especially
since I was one of the 8,539 individuals who attended that conference. The 1973
ALA conference was held June 24-30, and the theme was "People: Their Needs - Our
Responsibilities". A preliminary conference program gushed: "Three and one-half miles
of incredibly colorful marquees, flashing, plunging, zooming - luxurious hotels,
fascinating casinos that never close, lavish showrooms and superstar
entertainment, excellent meeting facilities, and a profusion of good restaurants
with offerings to suit every taste at reasonable prices. All of this, and more,
is the heady excitement of the Las Vegas Strip - scene of the 92nd ALA
conference. It promises to be an unforgettable and memorable experience!". It
was definitely an unforgettable experience for many who attended the conference
during the hottest period in Las Vegas in 1973. The temperature on June 28 was
113 degrees F. It was the heat that brought about such heavy criticism from
attendees that ALA hasn't gone back in 41 years. Back then, many of the
conference hotels were long distances from each other and some librarians made
the mistake of trying to hoof it between them ending up with scorched feet.
Personally, I enjoyed the conference. At that time I was active in the Junior
Members Round Table and helped organize and staff JMRT's booth in the exhibits.
I was rather proud of a home made roulette wheel that I put together. The famous
public relations guru Fred Glazer was the incoming chair of JMRT and also helped
with the booth. Of course, with the unbelievable development in Las Vegas since
1973, the 2014 conference should be unforgettable for many reasons other than
the heat. I will hate to miss it.
