June 2009 Archives

Wisconsin's original public library law was introduced as Assembly Bill no. 87, 1872 on January 26, 1872 by Assemblyman Alexander Graham of Janesville, Wisconsin. It was approved by the Governor on March 22, 1872. The  Graham Bill was remarkably similar to a bill introduced in the Illinois Legislature on March 23, 1871 and signed into law on March 7, 1872.  So similar, in fact, that there is little doubt that Wisconsin's public library law was based on the one in Illinois.  A key provision is almost identical: "Every library and reading-room established under this act, shall be forever free to the use of the inhabitants of the city or village where located, always subject to such reasonable rules and regulations as the library board may find necessary to adopt and publish ...".

Erastus Swift Willcox (pictured above), while librarian of the Peoria Mercantile Library, a forerunner of the Peoria Public Library, conceived the public library law that was substantially enacted by both Illinois and Wisconsin in 1872 and which was a model for a number of other states. Although New Hampshire adopted a state public library law in 1849, a solid case has been made that Willcox's public library law was the first comprehensive state public library law. Willcox realized that the fees charged by mercantile libraries and other membership libraries were not only inadequate for funding library service but that they were significant barriers to library use by the general public. Little is known of Alexander Graham's motivation for introducing the Wisconsin law or the specifics of how he became aware of the Illinois bill. He was, however, a member of the Janesville Young Men's Association, a membership library which experienced some of the same challenges as those of the Peoria Mercantile Library. A major motivating factor in the passage of the Illinois law was the movement to create a public library for the City of Chicago. The City of Chicago passed an ordinance under the new act creating the Chicago Public Library on April 1, 1872. The Black River Falls Public Library was the first public library created under Wisconsin's public library law of 1872.

Significant anniversaries are opportunities for libraries and library organizations to acknowledge their heritage and at the same time put the spotlight on their library or organization. I generally encourage the idea of celebrating anniversaries as often as every five years and definitely every ten years. This year a number of Wisconsin public library systems have significant anniversaries.  The Southwest Wisconsin Library System is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Library Services Act multi-county library cooperation project that evolved into the Southwest Wisconsin Library System. The April 7, 2009 SWLS blog entry reviews some of the history leading up to the formal formation of the system in 1974. Thus the system is also celebrating the 35th anniversary of the creation of the system. SWLS will have a celebration and awards dinner on June 19 to celebrate. The Eastern Shores Library System was formally created in 1979 and will celebrate its 30th anniversary this year. This will also be the 30th anniversary for the ESLS bookmobile and the 25th anniversary of the ESLS delivery service.  A variety of events to celebrate these anniversaries are described in the May issue of "The Connection", the ESLS newsletter. Other library systems are having significant anniversaries but I am as yet unaware of any events acknowledging these anniversaries. A Library Services Act multi-county cooperative project was also initiated in 1959 in Northwest Wisconsin which eventually led to the creation of what is now the Northern Waters Library System in 1973. Library systems created in 1974 and celebrating their 35th anniversaries also include the Arrowhead Library System, the Manitowoc-Calumet Library System, and the Mid-Wisconsin Library System. The Lakeshores Library System was  created in 1979 and is celebrating its 30th anniversary.  The November-December 2001 issue of Channel contained extensive coverage of the history of Wisconsin's public library systems to highlight the 30th anniversary of the passage of the public library system law in December 1971. Congratulations to all of these library systems on these significant anniversaries.

In 1836 when the United States Congress created the Territory of Wisconsin it appropriated $5,000 for a library. This was the origin of the Wisconsin State Library (now the Wisconsin State Law Library) making it Wisconsin's first and oldest library. At the first meeting of the territorial legislature in Belmont, Wisconsin, a resolution was passed creating a committee to select and purchase books for the library. The first librarian was James Clark, publisher of the Belmont Gazette and the territorial printer. It was not until 1851 that additional money ($2,500) was appropriated to expand the library. Initially, the collection was designed to support the territorial legislature and the state legislature and contained " law books, books of reference, and works on political science and statistics". Emphasis on legal materials increased and in 1876 the library became part of the judicial branch of state government. The need for more general library materials by the legislature was met first by the Library of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin and later by the Legislative Reference Library of the Wisconsin Free Library Commission (now the Legislative Reference Bureau). The printed catalog of the Wisconsin State Library for 1872 which is available through Google Books contains an early history of the library.

The law library survived the Capitol fire of 1904 due to quick action by University of Wisconsin students and Supreme Court Justice R. D. Marshall. The fire was discussed in an earlier blog post. In 1999 the Wisconsin State Law Library moved out of its home in the Capitol due to a major renovation of the building. The disposition of the library's iron shelves was discussed in an earlier blog post.  The postcard shows Wisconsin's first capitol in Belmont, Wisconsin. 

Any library building that is older than fifty years is considered to be historic. Some historic library buildings continue to serve as libraries usually with additions.  Others are razed so the lot they stand on can be used for a new library or for another use. Still others survive as buildings but are used for other purposes.  One of the more positive alternative purposes for these buildings is to serve as a local history museum. Historical societies realize the importance of preserving historic buildings and they make them accessible to the public. There are several of these in Wisconsin. The Carnegie library building in Darlington which is pictured on the envelope above now serves as the home of the Lafayette County Historical Society Museum. The Antigo Carnegie library building shown on the postcard below serves as the home to the Langlade Historical Society. Other historic library buildings  occupied by museums that I am aware of include those in Beaver Dam,  Racine, Waupaca, Waupun, and Wisconsin Rapids. A down side to these buildings is that they are often not fully accessible to those with disabilities.