Princess Grace Irish Library

In recognition of St. Patrick's Day, this post features a Monaco postage stamp which commemorates the twentieth anniversary of the Princess Grace Irish Library in Monaco. It was issued on January 29, 2004. The library's website contains the following statement: "The Princess Grace Irish Library was opened in November 1984 by His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince Rainier III of Monaco — as his tribute to the attachment Princess Grace (1929‑1982) felt for her Irish origins. Operating under the aegis of the Foundation Princess Grace, the Library is situated in the former family home of the late Countess Brame-Gastaldi, a short walk from the Palace on the Rock of Monaco."

Circulating Library Trade Cards

In the late 19th century Americans began collecting a variety of souvenirs and souvenir like artifacts. These collections were stimulated by the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia and the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Trade cards which advertised a business and included an attractive illustration were highly collectible. One of the businesses that used trade cards to advertise were circulating libraries. Circulating libraries were for-profit rental libraries that were started in the United States in the second half of the 18th century. They were an alternative to the subscription and membership libraries that preceded free public libraries. I have previously discussed Mudie's Select Library, a circulating library in England. The definitive book on circulating libraries is David Kaser's A Book For A Sixpence: The Circulating Library in America (Beta Phi Mu, 1980). The trade card for the Lewis A. Jillson's Circulating Library and News Depot in South Providence, RI is shown here. The Trade Card Place is a website which contains extensive information about trade cards and the current collecting of those cards. I have assembled a modest collection of circulating library trade cards, some of which are depicted HERE.

Woodworking and Libraries

One of the pleasures of publishing a library history website and blog is being contacted by someone seeking more information about a topic or commenting positively on your efforts. Recently I was contacted by Ray McInnis who indicated that, like me, he is a retired librarian who spends part of his time on the internet writing about his interests. Ray describes himself as an "amateur woodworker and scholar of woodworking history". He maintains a website which reflects his interest in woodworking history and records his efforts to write an online history of woodworking. The connection between Ray's interest in woodworking history and my interest in library history relates to the role played by the Minneapolis Public Library (now merged with the Hennepin County Library) in developing the Index to Handicrafts which began as an in-house index file in the 1920s and was later published as a printed index by Faxon beginning in 1936. McInnis discusses the Index to Handicrafts and other reference sources on woodworking history here. In that section of his website he also highlights a 1922 article in the Vocational Education Magazine which discusses a cooperative effort between the Minneapolis Public Library and the Dunwoody Institute (now the Dunwoody College of Technology) to provide library support for the Institute. This was at a time when the outstanding librarian Gratia Countryman led the Minneapolis Public Library and initiated many outreach efforts. There is also a section on "Woodworkers Manuals in Public Libraries" on the McInnis website.

The first image shown above depicts a traveling library bookcase that was used in Dunn County, Wisconsin in the 1890s. The bookcase is now located in the Russell J. Rassbach Heritage Museum in Menomonie, Wisconsin. The second image is a replica of the bookcase created by an amateur woodworker for an exhibit at the Menomonee Falls Public Library .

Pass it On: America's Library Heritage

I was delighted to learn that the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) of the American Library Association (ALA) is sponsoring the first Preservation Week May 9-15, 2010. That response might be expected from someone who has a website and blog that promotes "the appreciation, enjoyment, and preservation of our library heritage". Preservation of library collections is a worthy goal that is commonly accepted throughout the library community. So it is an ongoing source of personal frustration that the library community appears to have so little regard for the preservation of its own heritage. The theme for the ALCTS Preservation Week is "Pass it On". It is a great theme and can also be considered a plea from library history buffs and library historians everywhere to do your part in passing on your library's history and our collective library heritage. At the bottom of the Preservation Week website is a list of partners and sponsors that include the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), ALA, and the Library of Congress. These three library organizations are the ideal organizations to provide a leadership role in preserving our library heritage. Indeed, IMLS with its Connecting to Collections project has provided one model for how this could be done. The Wisconsin Library Heritage Center is providing a state level model for promoting and preserving our library heritage. Our library heritage consists of archives, artifacts, architecture, and the memory of those librarians and library supporters who have handed down the legacy that is today's American library community. There are lots of ideas on the Preservation Week website that can be used to highlight and promote your library's heritage. Why not undertake some of them this year.

Happy Birthday Arthur Bostwick

It is not often that someone with a Ph.D. in Physics from Yale University becomes a public librarian, but that was the case with Arthur E. Bostwick (1860-1942). Bostwick was born on this date (March 8) in 1860 making this the 150th anniversary of his birth. Bostwick's career as a public librarian is described by library historian Donald G. Davis, Jr. in the Dictionary of American Library Biography. After a stint as a high school teacher and as an editor he became chief librarian of the New York Free Circulating Library in 1895. The New York Free Circulating Library was merged with the newly created New York Public Library in the same year. After supervising branch libraries for the New York Public Library, Bostwick served as director of the Brooklyn Public Library from 1899 to 1901. He returned to the New York Public Library in 1901 in the capacity of Chief of the Circulating Department, a post he held when the postal card above was mailed on December 3, 1902. By 1909 Bostwick was overseeing the largest circulating library in the world. In 1909 he became director of the St. Louis Public Library, a post he held for the remainder of his career. Active in the American Library Association, he served as its president in 1907-1908. Bostwick went to China in 1925 as a representative of the American Library Association. His contribution to library development in China as a result of that visit was documented by Priscilla C. Yu and Donald G. Davis, Jr. in a 1998 article for Libraries and Culture. Bostwick was the author of a number of books including The American Public Library which was published in four editions. A photograph which includes Bostwick can be found here in the digital collections of the American Library Association Archives.

Charles Martel's Classification System

Charles Martel (1860-1945) was the architect of the Library of Congress Classification System. He was born on March 5, 1860 making today the 150th anniversary of his birth. Martel began his career at the Library of Congress on December 1, 1897 shortly after the opening of the magnificent new building now known as the Thomas Jefferson Building. Martel worked under J. C. M. Hanson, head of the newly created Catalog Division of LC. The sequence of events leading to the creation of the Library of Congress Classification System is well documented in the Martel entry in the Dictionary of American Library Biography which was written by James Bennett Childs and John Y. Cole. Herbert Putnam was appointed Librarian of Congress in 1899. There was little doubt at that time that the classification system used by LC was inadequate, but Putnam felt that it was desirable to use an existing classification system as its replacement. Melvil Dewey was approached about expanding his decimal system but he was not interested in adapting it for a large library like the Library of Congress. Martel and Hanson convinced Putnam that a new classification system was needed. The system they developed was influenced to a certain extent by the classification system of Charles Ammi Cutter. The LC Classification System is widely used by college and university libraries. Martel later served as chief of LC's Catalog Division and assisted the Vatican in developing its cataloging code. He died on May 1, 1945.

The Roosevelt Bears at the Boston Public Library

Seymour Eaton was the founder of the early 19th century Booklovers Library and the Tabard Inn Library. He was also the author of numerous books including The Roosevelt Bears: Their Travels and Adventures, the inspiration for the "teddy bear". I've collected a number of artifacts relating to his two libraries, but recently I came across this postcard which is based on an illustration in The Roosevelt Bears: Their Travels and Adventures. The illustration is by V. Floyd Campbell and it features the two bears sitting in the courtyard of the Boston Public Library. The caption under the illustration reads: "They took the books and down they sat, To read Emerson and the Aristocrat." The postcard was mailed on September 6, 1908 from Boston to Maine.

Bookmobile Celebration

I learned through a Twitter message from the American Library Association's Library that there is going to be a National Bookmobile Day on April 14 during National Library Week. This is a very interesting development and I'm curious about how this was accomplished. As someone who has advocated a Library Heritage Day I'm impressed that it was possible to create a special day sponsored by the American Library Association focusing on one fairly small segment of American public library service. Hey Library History Round Table you've been outdone. Now don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of bookmobiles as evidenced by my bookmobile tribute on the Library History Buff website. At the Wisconsin Library Heritage Center website I have also created a bookmobile page. National Bookmobile Day provides an opportunity for any library that has had bookmobile service in the past to communicate that legacy to the public. There are some wonderful photographs to incorporate into an exhibit about the heritage and contribution of the bookmobile to the expansion of public library service in the United States. The image of the Washington County (Maryland) Free Library's first motorized bookmobile shown above is from the Wisconsin Historical Society's International Harvester Company digital collection.

Presidential Libraries Exhibit

I usually participate in a couple of national level philatelic exhibits featuring parts of my collection of postal librariana each year. On Friday my philatelic exhibit on Presidential Libraries and Museums will go on display at the American Philatelic Society's AmeriStamp Expo 2010 in Riverside, California. The show runs February 19-21 at the Riverside Convention Center. The exhibit consists of six frames of 16 pages each featuring the presidential libraries and museums administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. It is entered in the Display Division which allows some non-philatelic material to be included in the exhibit. In addition to many special event and first day covers related to the libraries and museums in the exhibit, there are library dedication programs and invitations to special events. Signatures of Presidents Truman, Ford, Carter, and Clinton on items in the exhibit are included. I first showed the exhibit on a non-competitive basis as a three frame exhibit at the American Philatelic Society's show in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2005 where one of the first day of issues ceremonies for the presidential libraries stamp took place. The Riverside show will be the first time the exhibit has been shown competitively at the national level. I also have a three frame non-competitive exhibit at the Riverside show featuring America's Philatelic Libraries and Museums. If you live in the area stop by. Admission is free. There are many other exceptional philatelic exhibits on display as well as a large number of stamp dealers.

Oldest Overdue Notice?

Any library that lends its books or other materials for use outside of the library must have a system for insuring the safe return of those materials. The Library Company of Philadelphia, America's oldest lending library, had an early system under which a member of the library signed a loan slip promising to pay five pounds if the book borrowed wasn't returned to the librarian undefaced. I'm not sure which library mailed out the first overdue notice, but high on the list of things most ephemeral must be overdue notices. In my quest for postal librariana one of the kinds of items I appreciate most are government issued postage pre-paid postal cards. The United States Post Office Department began issuing these cards in 1873 and they were an instant success with the public, with the business community, and with libraries. For one cent which paid for the card and the postage, a library could transact a variety of library related tasks including the mailing of overdue notices. The postal card shown here was used by the Memorial Hall Library in Andover, Massachusetts to mail an overdue notice to Mr. E. L. Barnard of Andover on December 27, 1873. I will make the claim that this is the oldest mailed overdue notice still in existence for a United States library until I am proven wrong. The card is signed by Ballard Holt, the first librarian of the Memorial Hall Library. Holt did double duty as both the librarian and the janitor of the library. The amount of the overdue fine was two cents per day. The overdue book is numbered 633.13, an apparent Dewey Decimal Classification number. However, although Dewey had submitted his classification scheme for consideration by the Amherst College Library where he worked in May of 1873, it was not until 1876 that it was published. The Memorial Hall Library is still in existence and its history can be found HERE. Evidently the library doesn't charge overdue fees now except for DVDs.