April 2009 Archives

Membership libraries, sometimes referred to as social libraries, were the predecessors of free public libraries. There were dozens of these libraries in Wisconsin before and after the passage of the 1872 public library law. Membership libraries originated in New England, and it was New Englanders who brought this concept to Wisconsin. Membership libraries were formed when a group of individuals pooled their resources to purchase books which could then be commonly shared. An annual fee was usually required to participate in the membership library. These libraries often struggled from lack of financial resources or strong leadership. Only about a dozen survived for more than ten years. Some of the membership libraries transitioned into public libraries. The oldest of the membership libraries was the Milwaukee Young Men's Association Library (see illustration above) which turned its assets over to the newly created Milwaukee Public Library in 1878. The Madison Institute Library was formed in 1853 and was replaced by the Madison Public Library in 1875. The longest surviving membership library was the Waupun Library Association which existed from 1858 to 1904. This was largely the result of the efforts of one man - Edwin Hillyer, a Waupun attorney. The library was located in Hillyer's office and he served as Clerk and Librarian at least from 1859 to 1880. A comprehensive history of membership libraries in Wisconsin can be found in the 1973 University of Chicago dissertation of John C. Colson - The Public Library Movement in Wisconsin, 1836-1900.

Library buttons are fun and they are an interesting collectible, but they can also be artifacts that link us to our past.  In the image above are four buttons that each have a Wisconsin library story to tell. The crossed out AB 720 button was created to oppose a piece of library legislation that was supported by the majority of the Wisconsin library community and was passed into law.  The "Bark In The Dark" and the "It won't fit in the box" buttons were created for the particpants of two different groups that were charged with revising Wisconsin's public library standards.  The phrases reflect frustrations at critical points in the process of developing the standards.  The Jim Danky button recognizes the retirement of one of Wisconsin's stellar librarians. To see more library buttons including others from Wisconsin click here.

This is the last day of National Library Week 2009 and it could be Wisconsin Library Heritage Day. At the meeting of the Steering Committee of the Wisconsin Library Heritage Center on February 19th, I floated the idea of establishing a Wisconsin Library Heritage Day to be celebrated on the Saturday of National Library Week each year. My rationale was that in addition to promoting a better understanding and appreciation for Wisconsin’s library heritage, Wisconsin Library Heritage Day would provide an additional avenue for marketing Wisconsin’s libraries at the local and state levels. It would tie in well with the Campaign for Wisconsin Libraries and the National Library Week campaign. It could initiate a buildup to the 120th anniversary of WLA in 2011.

Some ideas for celebrating National Library Day at the local level include:

• Hold a birthday party for the library.
• Host a display of historical artifacts related to library history at the local, state, or national level.
• Work with the local post office to create a pictorial postmark related to the library's anniversary. Create a souvenir envelope to go with the postmark and include an insert with the history of the library.
• Create or expand a section of the library's website devoted to the history of the library.
• Cooperate with local library historical societies to promote activities and events.
• Invite an impersonator of a national, state, or local library figure in the past to perform a skit. Possibilities: Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Carnegie, Melvil Dewey, or Lutie Stearns.
• Get local actors to reenact a pivotal meeting in the formation or early history of the library.
  
  The WLHC Steering Committee didn't receive the idea of a Wisconsin Library Heritage Day with open arms but they didn't turn it down outright. We will continue to explore the idea for 2010. What are your thoughts on such a day and let us know if you have other ideas for celebrating Library Heritage Day.

Among the earliest libraries in Wisconsin were the libraries of academies. Academies were basically private high schools and often preceded colleges or universities. Carroll College in Waukesha County was originally incorporated in 1841 as Prairieville Academy in the Town of Prairieville in Milwaukee County. Plattevillw Academy established in 1843 preceded the State Normal School at Platteville, later the University of Wisconsin - Platteville. Milton Academy established in 1844 preceded Milton College. Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin was established in 1855 and went through a number of ups and downs before finally becoming a co-educational private academy which it continues as today. Wayland Hall, the first building of Wayland Academy, housed the library. A major rennovation of Wayland Hall began in March of this year. The real photograph postcard (RPPC) above shows an early view of the interior of the well appointed Wayland Academy library.

National Library Week started today with the theme "World's Connect @ your library". In 1958 the National Book Committee and the American Library Association conducted the first annual National Library Week campaign with the theme “Wake Up and Read”.  Each state that participated in the effort was required to establish a statewide planning committee.  The Wisconsin Library Association took the responsibility for designating a volunteer state executive director for Wisconsin.  The executive director worked with the statewide committee under a lay chairperson and with significant lay membership.  As a spin off of the 1962 National Library Week campaign in Wisconsin, Mrs. Bruno Bitker of Milwaukee provided the leadership for founding the Friends of Wisconsin Libraries(FOWL) in 1963.  That organization was the model for the national Friends of Libraries USA (FOLUSA) which was also founded in Wisconsin. In 1964 under the leadership of Gerry Somers, Director of the Brown County Public Library, WLA was given the first $1,000 Grolier Award for most effective state National Library Week program in the nation. FOWL has been integrated into the new Wisconsin Library Trustees and Friends (WLTF) Division of WLA. On February 1, 2009 FOLUSA joined with the Asociation of Library Trustees and Advocates to form the  Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations (ALTAFF).

For more on the history of National Library Week and previous themes click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Muriel Laura Fuller was inducted into the Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame in 2008.  Fuller served as Assistant Librarian at the La Crosse Public Library from 1943 to 1947 after receiving her B.L.S from the University of Wisconsin Library School. She became Librarian in 1947 and continued in that position until 1953. She was active in statewide library planning and legislative matters within the Wisconsin Library Association serving as Chair of the WLA’s Statewide Committee for a number of years.  In 1952 she took a leave of absence from the La Crosse Public Library to direct WLA’s legislative campaign.  Fuller was a leader in continuing education for librarianship.  After working for the State Library of Michigan from 1953 to 1962, she joined the faculty of the UW-Madison Library School in 1962 moving from lecturer to the rank of full professor in the next 15 years. In 1963 and continuing until her retirement in 1977 she held a joint appointment as Chairperson of the Department of Library Science in University of Wisconsin Extension. She served as President of WLA in 1968-1969. She received WLA's Citation of Merit award in 1972.  Fuller drowned on June 17, 1978 in a freak boating accident on Lake Pomona in Kansas while teaching at summer school at Emporia State University’s Library School.  The Muriel Fuller award was established by WLA in her honor in 1991. She was selected for inclusion on the National Advocacy Honor Roll  by the American Library Association in 2000 for her contribution as an advocate for library services in the 20th century. The image is used with permission of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Library and Information Studies.

In 1881 under the direction of Librarian Klas Linderfelt, the Milwaukee Public Library implemented a new charging system. Linderfelt made a presentation on library charging systems at the 1882 American Library Association conference in Cincinnati, Ohio.  In that presentation he identified twenty questions that should be answered in evaluating a library charging system. The first four were: 1) Is a given book out?; 2) If out, who has it?; 3) When did he [she] take it?; and 4) When is it to be sen for, as overdue?  Another Milwaukee Public Library innovation was the pencil dater. Library charging or circulation systems have been evolving for many decades.  I was recently interviewed by John Kelly of the Washington Post about the stamping of library books with the date due.  Kelly wrote an article in his blog today about the move to printed receipts in public libraries. As a result of the Kelly interview I scanned my library card collection to the Library History Buff website which included this well used Milwaukee Public Library card from the 1920s.

Elizabeth Burr was inducted into the Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame in 2008. Burr retired in 1973 after 27 years as Public Library Consultant for Children's Services for the Wisconsin Division for Library Services and its predecessor the Wisconsin Free Library Commission.  She was a founder of the Cooperative Children's Book Center in 1963 and its director until her retirement.  She was the first recipient of the Wisconsin's Library Association's "Librarian of the Year" award.  In 1992, WLA established the annual Elizabeth Burr Award to be given to the Wisconsin author or illustrator of a distinguished book for children. She was selected for the National Advocacy Honor Roll by the American Library Association in 2000 for her contribution as an advocate for library services in the 20th century.

 

Two bookplates from libraries of Lawrence University are shown above.  The first is for the Samuel Appleton Library which was a 1963 addition to the Carnegie Library which was razed to make way for the Seely G. Mudd Library which opened in 1976. Samuel Appleton was the person for who the City of Appleton is named for. The second bookplate is for the John Herbert Farley Memorial Library of Lawrence College.  This is probably a book collection within the library not an actual library building.  According to Pete Gilbert, Lawrence University became Lawrence College in 1908 and then changed back to Lawrence University in 1964 when it merged with Milwaukee-Downer College. So the bookplates dates to before 1964. Bookplates are collected by a number of collectors. I have a collection of library bookplates, but not many from Wisconsin libraries. I would love to add more to the Wisconsin Library Memorabilia collection. Hint hint. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On exhibit at the Middleton Public Library for the month of April is an exhibit entitled "Books for Soldiers and Sailors in World War I".  It's about the Library War Service of the American Library Association (ALA) in World War I. Given our current economic crisis and the impact on libraries, it is interesting to see how libraries coped in another time of great national crisis. The United States stayed neutral for much of World War I. During that period of neutrality, one of the largest impacts on public libraries in Wisconsin was the difficulty of obtaining books in German because of the British blockade of Germany. In his book "An Active Instrument For Propaganda" - The American Public Library During World War I (Greenwood Press, 1989), Wayne Wiegand quotes a letter from Matthew Dudgeon of the Wisconsin Free Library Commission to the President of ALA: "We are starved for German books in Wisconsin.  Do you know anywhere that we could buy,borrow, beg, or steal any new, secondhand,bound or unbound?" When the United States did enter the war in 1917, ALA took on a leadership role in providing books to the soldiers and sailors in our armed forces. Dudgeon took a leave of absence to serve as librarian of the ALA camp library at Camp Perry in Great Lakes, Illinois and later as Manager of Camp Libraries for the ALA Library War Service. Libraries in Wisconsin actively participated in supporting the ALA Library War Service and the war effort in general. In an abrupt turn around, instead of seeking books in German, the Free Library Commission removed all German language books from its traveling libraries.