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”).