Larry T. Nix – Page 21 – Wisconsin Library Heritage Center

April 16, 2009March 13, 2020

Academy Libraries

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.

April 12, 2009

National Library Week 2009

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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.

April 8, 2009

Muriel Laura Fuller (1912-1978)

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.

April 7, 2009

Library Charging Systems

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.

April 6, 2009

Elizabeth Burr, 1908-1996

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.

April 2, 2009March 12, 2020

Lawrence Bookplates

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.

April 1, 2009March 12, 2020

Books for Soldiers and Sailors in World War I

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.

March 30, 2009

Memorabilia Exhibit Milwaukee

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Today, with the assistance of my wife Kathy and Dawn Lauber of the Milwaukee Public Library (MPL) staff, I installed the Wisconsin Library Memorabilia exhibit at the Central Library of MPL for the month of April. MPL generously made available eight display cases for the exhibit which is on the second floor of the library. It includes one of the largest collections of Wisconsin library memorabilia ever assembled. This exhibit is supplemented by MPL’s permanent vintage library office exhibit (see photo below, pardon the glare from the glass). The permanent exhibit includes an example of the pencil dater that was invented by the Milwaukee Public Library. In addition to the pemanent exhibit MPL will be displaying other items including some vintage wooden cases used to transport books to the branch libraries. Of course, a visit to MPL’s magnificent Central Library which was originally built in 1898 is a treat in itself.

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March 29, 2009

One Year Anniversary

This month marks the one year anniversary of the Wisconsin Library Heritage Center. A lot has been accomplished in the first year, and the WLHC Steering Committee has an active agenda for the second year of the WLHC. We are appreciative of the support of the Wisconsin Library Association Foundation Board and staff. The WLHC website has a good start. We are grateful to the Outagamie Waupaca Library System for hosting the website, and for the assistance of Beth Carpenter in designing the site. Ten individuals were inducted into the Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame in 2008 and plans are underway for more inductees in 2009. The Wisconsin Library Memorabilia exhibit is now being sponsored by the WLHC. It was on display at four libraries in the last year, and it will be on display at the Milwaukee Public Library in April. The WLHC Steering Committee hopes to explore the possibility of establishing a Wisconsin library oral history project in 2009. The Steering Committee is appreciatiave of the financial support of the Founding Contributors of the WLHC. By the way, you still have a once in a lifetime opportunity to become a Founding Contributor. WLHC Steering Committee members are listed here.

March 28, 2009March 13, 2020

Railroad car library

The Wisconsin Historical Society has many physical and digital resources of interest and value to the library history buff. A fellow library history buff made me aware of an image (Image ID 4293) in the Historical Society’s digital collection that pictured a railroad car library. The location of the railroad car library was given as “probably in the Madison area”. However, in searching another digital collection of the Historical Society (Wisconsin Local History & Biography Articles), I came across an article in the October 30, 1938 issue of the Milwaukee Journal that told the story behind the railroad car library. According to the article, the library was located in Adams, Wisconsin, and the car was donated by the North Western Railroad at the request of the Adams Library Association (a membership library) in 1929. By 1937, the library had 2,088 books that were supplemented with 2,000 more from the state library commission. The city of Adams was only providing $314 a year to support the library. Today, Adams is home to the Adams County Public Library, a much more substantial library. Dan Calef, Director of the Adams County Public Library, is a Founding Contributor of the Wisconsin Library Heritage Center. Thanks Dan.