September 2008 Archives
A real photograph postcard (RPPC) view of the interior of the old Lancaster Public Library. This postcard was mailed from Lancater to Blunt, South Dakota on Sept. 19, 1908. Real photograph postcards are photographs printed on paper with a postcard format backing.
Library postcards are one of my favorite kinds of library collectibles. I've been collecting Wisconsin library postcards since 1995 and my collection now consists of about 300 cards which feature 140 different Wisconsin library buildings. Ann Waidelich, a retired Madison librarian and advocate of historical preservation, introduced me to library postcard collecting. Ann has a collection of 283 Wisconsin library postcards which feature libraries in 119 Wisconsin communities. One of these days it would be nice to get these two collections digitized so that images of the postcards could be added to the Web. In the meantime, I will continue to add selected Wisconsin library postcard images to the WLHC website.
There are also several collections of Wisconsin library postcards already available on the Web. Judy Aulik's website "Library Postcards: Civic Pride in a Lost America" includes a substantial group of Wisconsin library postcards. As does the Sharon McQueen and Richard Douglas Library Postcard website. The American Library Association Archives is in the process of adding digital images from the postcard collection of Sjoerd Koopman to its website which includes many Wisconsin library postcards. There are also a number of Wisconsin library postcards included in the digital image collection of the Wisconsin Historical Society (search using the term "library building").
The former Carnegie library building in Sheboygan, Wisconsin is pictured on the envelope above. All but a portion of the Carnegie building has been razed. One way that communities in the first two decades of the 20th century sought to attract new businesses was through advertising on envelopes. These envelopes typically included pictures on the front of the envelope that depicted significant buildings and attractions in the community. Libraries are often one of the buildings being depicted on these envelopes.
The Sheboygan advertishing envelope is part of my postal librariana exhibit "The Evolution of the American Public Library". The exhibit includes more than 300 postal and related artifacts. The exhibit will be on display at Mt. Mary College in the Milwaukee area on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (Sept. 12-13). The exhibit is one of many which will be part of MILCOPEX, Milwaukee's annual national level stamp show. For information on the stamp show click here. For information on the exhibit click here.
A personalized stamp depicting the Eager Free Library in Evansville
The Eager Free Library in Evansville is one of several Wisconsin libraries celebrating significant anniversaries this year. The building in which the Eager Free Library is housed is one hundred years old this year. The architect for the building was the architectural firm of Claude and Starck which was responsible for the design of nearly forty libraries in the Midwest. The library's design was the first Prairie School design by Claude and Starck. Local merchant Almeron Eager bequeathed $10,000 for the contstruction of the building in 1902. When finally completed in 1908 the cost was $16,000. Ruth Ann Montgomery, a member of the Wisconsin Library Heritage Center Steering Committee, has written a history of the library for its centennial.
Other Wisconsin libraries celebrating anniversaries include the Milwaukee Public Library which is celebrating the the 130th anniversary of its founding and the 110 anniversary of its building; the Bloomington Public Library which is celebrating its centennial, the Black Earth Public Library which is celebrating its centennial; and the Independence Public Library which is also celebrating its centennial.
Tips of celebrating anniversaries can be found here.
