LHRT (Library History Round Table)

Hi LHRT, 

Does LHRT have informational resources on the pioneers of librarianship in USA? If so, may you link them? I would like to learn about the early beginnings and evolution of librarianship in USA. I am not sure if LHRT or ALA has publications on this. 

Hi Bryan --

I'll leave it to a current officer in LHRT to reply about your request to link material to LHRT's website. But speaking as one rank-and-file ALA member to another, here are some of my favorite resources for uncovering prominent people in the history of American librarianship. Note, some of these resources are books. I've provided Internet Archive or WorldCat links to help you find them.

• Dictionary of American Library Biography (1978) -- the most comprehensive resource I know about: https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer0000unse_b0u1 .
  • See also the First Supplement (1990): https://search.worldcat.org/title/21228389
  • And the Second Supplement (2003): https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer0000unse_i6l0
• American Library Development 1600-1899 (1977) -- a chronology that can lead to names: https://search.worldcat.org/formats-editions/2963643 
• Biographies section of LHRT News and Notes: https://lhrt.news/summer-2016-notes/ . See the list of recommended resources on the right side of the page. Scroll down the page for recent biographical blog posts.
• LHRT Bibliography database: https://openpublishing.psu.edu/blh/biblio . This is an ongoing project to convert the bibliographies on LHRT's website into a more searchable form. It will lead you to published books and articles. It can be more valuable than Library Literature, LISA, and LISTA because LHRT's bibliography only includes articles that are written from a historical perspective. In other words, it's not cluttered by articles on current practice. It also goes beyond library science databases to include material published in history, humanities, and other fields. 
• 100 of The Most Important Leaders We Had in the 20th Century: https://www.library.illinois.edu/ala/research-guides/100-library-leaders/ . This is based on an article published in American Libraries in 1999. The ALA Archives has annotated it with links to archival collections. 
• ALA's Professional Recognition site: https://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/awards/browse/prec?showfilter=no . Sometimes the names of awards refer to important people in library history. Also, recipients of the awards provide a sense of who is impacting the profession in more recent times. 

As someone who uses these resources heavily, I would say that they are often limited in scope, focused on events that occurred after ALA was founded in 1876 and focused on people who were prominent authors or who worked at major urban libraries. Particularly in my state (Pennsylvania), there are a lot of pathbreaking librarians and library advocates who don't appear in these sources because they were active before 1876, they didn't write about their work in Library Journal, or they came from other professions (they weren't in ALA's orbit). 

Also, anyone who is interested in an inclusive history of librarianship needs to see what names are memorialized by different subfields, demographics, etc., within the profession. For example, RAINBOW Round Table and its members have produced an article (https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2020/06/01/the-rainbows-arc/), a 1-hour retrospective program (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF1LoVQBP-Q), and other resources relating to the history of LGBTQ+ people in librarianship. 

I hope this helps, and I'd be curious to hear what other resources you turn up!

Bernadette  :)

Hi LHRT, 

Does LHRT have informational resources on the pioneers of librarianship in USA? If so, may you link them? I would like to learn about the early beginnings and evolution of librarianship in USA. I am not sure if LHRT or ALA has publications on this. 

Hi Bryan --

I'll leave it to a current officer in LHRT to reply about your request to link material to LHRT's website. But speaking as one rank-and-file ALA member to another, here are some of my favorite resources for uncovering prominent people in the history of American librarianship. Note, some of these resources are books. I've provided Internet Archive or WorldCat links to help you find them.

• Dictionary of American Library Biography (1978) -- the most comprehensive resource I know about: https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer0000unse_b0u1 .
  • See also the First Supplement (1990): https://search.worldcat.org/title/21228389
  • And the Second Supplement (2003): https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer0000unse_i6l0
• American Library Development 1600-1899 (1977) -- a chronology that can lead to names: https://search.worldcat.org/formats-editions/2963643 
• Biographies section of LHRT News and Notes: https://lhrt.news/summer-2016-notes/ . See the list of recommended resources on the right side of the page. Scroll down the page for recent biographical blog posts.
• LHRT Bibliography database: https://openpublishing.psu.edu/blh/biblio . This is an ongoing project to convert the bibliographies on LHRT's website into a more searchable form. It will lead you to published books and articles. It can be more valuable than Library Literature, LISA, and LISTA because LHRT's bibliography only includes articles that are written from a historical perspective. In other words, it's not cluttered by articles on current practice. It also goes beyond library science databases to include material published in history, humanities, and other fields. 
• 100 of The Most Important Leaders We Had in the 20th Century: https://www.library.illinois.edu/ala/research-guides/100-library-leaders/ . This is based on an article published in American Libraries in 1999. The ALA Archives has annotated it with links to archival collections. 
• ALA's Professional Recognition site: https://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/awards/browse/prec?showfilter=no . Sometimes the names of awards refer to important people in library history. Also, recipients of the awards provide a sense of who is impacting the profession in more recent times. 

As someone who uses these resources heavily, I would say that they are often limited in scope, focused on events that occurred after ALA was founded in 1876 and focused on people who were prominent authors or who worked at major urban libraries. Particularly in my state (Pennsylvania), there are a lot of pathbreaking librarians and library advocates who don't appear in these sources because they were active before 1876, they didn't write about their work in Library Journal, or they came from other professions (they weren't in ALA's orbit). 

Also, anyone who is interested in an inclusive history of librarianship needs to see what names are memorialized by different subfields, demographics, etc., within the profession. For example, RAINBOW Round Table and its members have produced an article (https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2020/06/01/the-rainbows-arc/), a 1-hour retrospective program (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF1LoVQBP-Q), and other resources relating to the history of LGBTQ+ people in librarianship. 

I hope this helps, and I'd be curious to hear what other resources you turn up!

Bernadette  :)

Hi LHRT, 

Does LHRT have informational resources on the pioneers of librarianship in USA? If so, may you link them? I would like to learn about the early beginnings and evolution of librarianship in USA. I am not sure if LHRT or ALA has publications on this. 

Hi LHRT, 

Does LHRT have informational resources on the pioneers of librarianship in USA? If so, may you link them? I would like to learn about the early beginnings and evolution of librarianship in USA. I am not sure if LHRT or ALA has publications on this. 

Hi LHRT, 

Does LHRT have informational resources on the pioneers of librarianship in USA? If so, may you link them? I would like to learn about the early beginnings and evolution of librarianship in USA. I am not sure if LHRT or ALA has publications on this. 

Hi Cindy,

I just want to learn about the early beginnings of libraries and the evolution of libraries in USA. If I can add some specifics (thinking about it now that you asked), I would add in rural areas and minority pioneers in librarianship such as women and people from challenging backgrounds (context of socioeconomic, race)

Hi LHRT, 

Does LHRT have informational resources on the pioneers of librarianship in USA? If so, may you link them? I would like to learn about the early beginnings and evolution of librarianship in USA. I am not sure if LHRT or ALA has publications on this. 

Hi LHRT, 

Does LHRT have informational resources on the pioneers of librarianship in USA? If so, may you link them? I would like to learn about the early beginnings and evolution of librarianship in USA. I am not sure if LHRT or ALA has publications on this. 

Hello Bryan....I hope you don't mind me tagging along with my request (cross-posted in the main PLA room).

Dear Colleagues,

Greetings! I'm am researching for the book "America's Libraries: Finding the Women Who Help Make Them".  Would you be willing and able to contribute, whether through your own personal stories or the stories of others?

I'm especially interested in gathering stories from the period 1900-1920 or so, when women's clubs were so instrumental in the establishment of Carnegie (and other) libraries. But stories from any time in US history will be warmly welcomed.

I am traveling through all lower 48 states to talk with librarians and conduct archival research, so if you would like to meet me in person at this conference or at your library please feel free to reach out to me. My email is mark.carl.rom@gmail.com and my website is americaslibraries.com

I am a retired professor (not a library scientist) who has written three books (not on libraries).

Thanking you in advance,

Mark

Hi LHRT, 

Does LHRT have informational resources on the pioneers of librarianship in USA? If so, may you link them? I would like to learn about the early beginnings and evolution of librarianship in USA. I am not sure if LHRT or ALA has publications on this. 

Hello Bryan....I hope you don't mind me tagging along with my request (cross-posted in the main PLA room).

Dear Colleagues,

Greetings! I'm am researching for the book "America's Libraries: Finding the Women Who Help Make Them".  Would you be willing and able to contribute, whether through your own personal stories or the stories of others?

I'm especially interested in gathering stories from the period 1900-1920 or so, when women's clubs were so instrumental in the establishment of Carnegie (and other) libraries. But stories from any time in US history will be warmly welcomed.

I am traveling through all lower 48 states to talk with librarians and conduct archival research, so if you would like to meet me in person at this conference or at your library please feel free to reach out to me. My email is mark.carl.rom@gmail.com and my website is americaslibraries.com

I am a retired professor (not a library scientist) who has written three books (not on libraries).

Thanking you in advance,

Mark

Hi LHRT, 

Does LHRT have informational resources on the pioneers of librarianship in USA? If so, may you link them? I would like to learn about the early beginnings and evolution of librarianship in USA. I am not sure if LHRT or ALA has publications on this. 

Hello Bryan....I hope you don't mind me tagging along with my request (cross-posted in the main PLA room).

Dear Colleagues,

Greetings! I'm am researching for the book "America's Libraries: Finding the Women Who Help Make Them".  Would you be willing and able to contribute, whether through your own personal stories or the stories of others?

I'm especially interested in gathering stories from the period 1900-1920 or so, when women's clubs were so instrumental in the establishment of Carnegie (and other) libraries. But stories from any time in US history will be warmly welcomed.

I am traveling through all lower 48 states to talk with librarians and conduct archival research, so if you would like to meet me in person at this conference or at your library please feel free to reach out to me. My email is mark.carl.rom@gmail.com and my website is americaslibraries.com

I am a retired professor (not a library scientist) who has written three books (not on libraries).

Thanking you in advance,

Mark

Hi LHRT, 

Does LHRT have informational resources on the pioneers of librarianship in USA? If so, may you link them? I would like to learn about the early beginnings and evolution of librarianship in USA. I am not sure if LHRT or ALA has publications on this.