Fall 2000 Library History Bibliography
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Message from the Chair | | Minutes | | New Co-Editor
LHRT Officers 2000-2001 | | Liaison Reports | | News from the States
Calls for Papers | | Announcements | | Editors
Message from the Chair
Greetings LHRT Members:
First, I want to express my gratitude to Sibyl E. Moses for her leadership as chair of LHRT. Sibyl organized an important panel entitled "Communities Build Libraries: History, Politics and Development of Linkages" at the 2000 Annual Conference in Chicago. Dr. Russell Adams of Howard University gave the keynote address and Naomi Caldwell, Toby Graham, Jean L. Preer, and Sibyl presented papers representing their recent research efforts. Sibyl also took the initiative to reach out to the state library associations and to the ethnic library associations, to exchange information and to enhance LHRT's visibility. I intend to continue to build on the momentum Sibyl established.
I thank Holly G. Willett for agreeing to serve an additional term as secretary-treasurer and to Andrew Wertheimer for serving as secretary-treasurer-elect to ensure a smooth transition under the revised by-laws. Congratulations to chair-elect Michele V. Cloonan and to new member-at-large Melanie Kimball. I am grateful to all who agreed to run for office and I very much appreciate the work of outgoing of-ficers and committee chairs and members, many of whom have served LHRT in various capacities over a number of years. It is inspiring to be part of such a group, and I thank the membership for giving me the opportunity to serve as chair.
A number of significant issues and events will be discussed at the LHRT meeting at the 2001 Mid-winter Conference in Washington, D.C., including the 2001 Annual Conference program, further development of fund-raising efforts and membership drives, and work on publicizing LHRT awards and honors. ÂÜÀòÍøÊÓƵPresident Nancy Kranich's theme, "Libraries are the Cornerstone of Democracy," raises a number of questions for students of history and the various purposes to which libraries have been put in the past. Certainly, the image of the cor-nerstone evokes not only the library's position in society but also reminds us in the digital age that the library has been and continues to be a place, with a cornerstone of its own. Hence, my proposed panel for the 2001 Annual Confer-ence in San Francisco entitled "The Public Library as Public Space: Histories of Li-brary Buildings and Their Uses." As we contemplate the material reality of buildings and the objects within them, let's also begin selecting from our own personal libraries a few choices pieces to donate to the LHRT auction to be held in San Francisco. If it's anything like the auction held a couple of years ago in New Orleans it will be entertaining and enriching!
I invite you to visit the LHRT Website, so effectively managed by Joy Kingsolver, at and to enjoy this issue of the newsletter, which reflects the excellent organizational and editing skills of Ed Goedeken (with able assistance on this issue from new co-editor Lee Shiflett). If you would like to make your own mark on the history of LHRT, please consider volunteering to serve on a committee, or contact me about other possibilities.
I hope to see you in the New Year in our nation's capital&emdash;
Cheryl Knott Malone ckmalone@uiuc.edu
Minutes
LHRT Executive Committee Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois July 9, 2000
In attendance: James V. Carmichael, Jr., Michele V. Cloonan, Don Davis, Julia Glynn, Toby Graham, Elizabeth Hanson, David M. Hovde, Nancy Becker Johnson, Melanie Kimball, Joy Kingsolver, Sibyl E. Moses, Michael North, Ken Potts, Joanne Passet, Jean Preer, Louise Robbins, Lee Shiflett, Steven Sowards, Peter Vodosek, Andrew Wertheimer, Holly Willett.
I. Call to Order and Introductions: The meet-ing was called to order at 11:35 a.m. Don Davis introduced Peter Vodosek of the University of Stuttgart, who is active in the IFLA Library His-tory Round Table. There was a round of ap-plause for our international visitor. The other attendees introduced themselves around the ta-ble.
II. Approval of Agenda: The agenda was approved with the addition of a discussion of the book sale/auction at the San Francisco conference in the summer of 2001.
III. Approval of 2000 Midwinter Minutes: It was noted that the heading for the minutes in Spring 2000 newsletter should read "Midwinter Meeting, San Antonio" not "Annual Conference, New Orleans" and that Michele Cloonan had been omitted from the list of attendees. These corrections will be made in the Fall 2000 newsletter, and the minutes from the Midwinter 2000 meeting were approved as amended.
IV. Summary Remarks by Chair: Sibyl Moses reminded attendees of the Annual Program, which was to take place in the afternoon following the executive committee meeting. The keynote speaker was Dr. Russell L. Adams, professor of history and chair of the Afro American Studies Department at Howard University. Naomi Caldwell, Toby Graham, Sibyl Moses, and Jean L. Preer comprised a panel of speakers to follow the keynote address. Sibyl Moses announced the election results. Elected were: Michele V. Cloonan, vice chair/chair-elect; Andrew Wertheimer, Secretary-Treasurer-elect; Melanie Kimball, member of the executive committee at-large. A round of applause welcomed our new officers.
V. Old Business
A. Changes in by-laws and amendment of consti-tution: By a show of hands, the executive committee meeting became a membership meeting for the purpose of voting on the proposed change in the term of office of the secretary -treasurer, the amendment of the composition of the executive committee, and the addition of the duties of the secretary-treasurer-elect. The ballot had been announced in the spring newsletter. Action: Steve Sowards and Lee Shiflett distributed and counted the ballots. There were 18 votes for the changes in by-laws, no votes against, and no abstentions. There were 18 votes for the change to the Library History Round Table constitution, no votes against, and no absten-tions. Both measures passed. In order to begin the new cycle of terms of office, Holly Willett will remain secretary-treasurer for another year.
B. Membership brochure: Andrew Wertheimer distributed a draft brochure. Changes discussed were: Spelling corrections, adding the round table's purposes, and changing the orientation of the return address on the back so that the brochure can be mailed. ÂÜÀòÍøÊÓƵhas changed the wording of applications, and the final template will look different. It was suggested that a different quote be used, perhaps one from Shirley Wiegand's book or the statement on library history in library education. Don Davis particularly recommended that information in the brochure include the cultural context of library history. Action: Final comments are due to Andrew Wertheimer by the end of July, and final copy to the executive committee in August.
C. Calendar for Awards: Steve Sowards has created a web page calendar to display the cycles of LHRT awards for the next 20 to 30 years. Factual pieces are still needed, and a draft was passed to collect information from attendees. It needs two time lines, one of years in which awards should be given and one of publication dates to help administer the awards. Steve was thanked by the chair for his work. Action: None. Steve will continue to work on this project.
D. National Coordinating Committee for the Pro-motion of History (NCC): Steve Sowards observed that NCC is a lobbying organization that supports libraries and archives, not just library history. LHRT has been contributing to NCC on behalf of ÂÜÀòÍøÊÓƵfor a long time, in support of activities that increasingly overlap with the work of ALA's Washington Office. Our dues are now $400 per year, a big bite for us, one that keeps us from doing parts of our mission. Steve prepared a draft letter we can use to contact other components of ÂÜÀòÍøÊÓƵto ask them to support the NCC. The Washington office has declined to support the NCC monetarily but maintains good relations with it. The Washington office may not be attuned to the work of the NCC. The NCC has been involved in issues of government information. It was sug-gested that the letter be sent to the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section and the ÂÜÀòÍøÊÓƵLegislation Committee as well as to the History Section of RUSA, Library Research Round Table, Government Documents Round Table, and Intellectual Freedom Round Table. Steve was thanked by the chair for his efforts. Action: The executive committee will look at the letter and make suggestions. Cheryl Malone will see that it's sent.
VI. New Business
A. Budget: A separate project account has been created for the Lectureship funds in order to help us budget appropriately. Mary Jo Lynch and Holly Willett explained ALA's accounting procedures in creating the project account. The money was taken from the current revenues, which is why we have a negative balance for current revenues, even though there is more than enough money in the fund bal-ance. In reality, we have nearly $4,000 in funds, some of which will be expended in the current fiscal year. The anomaly will disappear at the end of the fiscal year when this year's budget becomes part of the fund balance for the next fiscal year.
B. Justin Winsor Prize: No award was made this year as there was only one entry and it didn't meet the criteria. Chair Sibyl Moses directed the committee to make recommendations concerning this situation, and the committee--Mary Niles Maack, Lorna Peterson, and Cheryl Malone, chair-- submitted a list of six suggestions. The executive committee dis-cussed the recommendations. There was general positive response to all recommenda-tions except the notion of saving the money not awarded in one cycle in order to award two $500 Winsor Prizes in a subsequent award cycle. Several concerns were raised about awarding two prizes in a single year, including the possibility that it might create a financial burden. Action: Jim Carmichael moved to ac-cept items 1-4 and 6, as submitted by the committee; Louise Robbins seconded. The motion was carried by a show of hands. It was agreed that the an-nouncement of the prize will be distrib-uted on listservs and the LHRT web site; a poster to announce the prize will be funded out of the money not awarded in 2000 for distribution at conferences and meetings; the chair of the committee will write to deans of U.S. and selected in-ternational li-brary schools announcing the contest each September, enclosing the poster; the letter and poster shall be sent each year to aca-demic depart-ments of history, American Studies, English, and other faculty with an interest in the field and to selected curators of archives and rare book and special collections librarians (the addresses to be saved and augmented each year and given to each new chair of the Winsor committee); there shall be no minimum number of entries required for an award to be made. No decisions were made as to who would be responsible for creating, duplicating and mailing the poster, contacting websites, etc. These matters were left for the next executive committee meeting.
C. Davis Award: The Research Committee, chaired by Mark Tucker, made the first Davis Award to Louise Robbins. There was applause for Louise and Don. Chair Sibyl Moses announced that changes to the guidelines for this award were needed. At the 1999 Annual Conference, the executive committee directed the Research Committee to decide this year, but a permanent arrangement is needed. Sibyl asked Mary Jo Lynch to suggest revised guidelines for the award, and Mary Jo presented her recommendations. In addition, members of the executive committee were concerned to involve more members of LHRT in the round table's activities and to eliminate inconsistencies between Sections V and VI of the current guidelines for the Davis . There was also discussion about creating a pool of candidate articles, particularly the suggestion that the editor of the library history bibliography, Ed Goedeken, prescreen the articles to be considered, as he is very knowledgeable of the literature. Some members of the executive committee observed that the bibliography might not include all relevant articles, and the award committee and other members of LHRT should be able to nominate articles as well. Action: The executive committee agreed by consensus to increase the Research Committee's membership. If necessary, the Research Committee can subdivide itself in order to deal with the various awards in its charge. The executive committee also agreed to the proposed changes in the wording of the guidelines and accepted Mary Jo Lynch's proposal to include 1999 with 2000 and 2001 for the 2002 award. The editor of the library history bibliography will help select a pool of candi-date articles; however, any member of the LHRT may recommend articles for the Research Committee's consideration. It was left for the Midwinter 2001 meeting to decide how much larger to make the Research Committee, how to notify the LHRT membership that members may nominate articles not in Ed Goedeken's pool, and what deadlines must be set for accepting additional nominations of articles. The award decision has to be made between February and June.
D. LHRT Newsletter: Gerald Greenberg is stepping down as co-editor of the newsletter. The executive committee recognized his contributions with thanks for a job very well done. A new co-editor is needed. Sibyl Moses observed that when David Hovde was chair, he was also co-editor of the newsletter, and the membership thought that was part of the chair's job. It's the responsibility of every member of the executive committee to solicit manuscripts and information for the newsletter. Action: The chair asked for volunteers to help with the camera ready copy. The co-editors need to come to the executive committee meetings, and as members of the press, they don't have to pay registration fees for the conference.
E. Proposed Fund raisers:
1. Rudy Shur, publisher of Square One Publishers, approached Wayne Wiegand about publishing a work on ÂÜÀòÍøÊÓƵposters from WWI and WWII promoting books and reading. He has the posters but needs library historians to write the text. Wayne passed the idea on to LHRT through Andrew Wertheimer as a possible fundraiser for LHRT. Andrew contacted two potential editors, but neither could begin the project until after Thanksgiving, and both would donate only a portion of the royalties to LHRT.
2. A second fund raising idea was suggested: A calendar of library history images and dates. Action: The executive committee voted to approve in spirit the two proposals, with no commitment of financial or editorial support.
F. Other New Business and Announcements:
1. The Eliza Gleason Award needs clearer and more specific guidelines. Steve Sowards, Art Young, and Sibyl Moses agreed to work on them.
2. The book sale/auction in New Orleans was successful; it earned about $950. Lee Shiflett and Al Jones have agreed to manage a book sale at the San Francisco conference in 2001. Mary Kay Duggan of UC- Berkeley was suggested as a local person to work with. A few items of possible interest for the sale were mentioned. Lee estimated that the previous auction required eight hours of work to transport sale items. Action: Lee and Al will go ahead with arrangements. Attendees were urged to send materials and bring money to the auction. Lee Shiflett will create publicity for the LHRT web page and newsletter.
3. Announcements:
a. Sibyl Moses reminded everyone about the 2 p.m. program.
b. Melanie Kimball presented concerns and requests from Cheryl Malone, incoming chair of the LHRT. Cheryl asked the ex-ecutive committee to select from two ideas for next year's conference program. Idea #1 was Past Access: Histories of Information Policies and Practices. Idea #2 was The Public Library as Public Space: Histories of Public Library Buildings and Their Uses. Michele Cloonan said that the latter would have current resonance for California librarians because the state legislature had recently passed a measure relating to library construction. By consensus, the executive committee accepted Idea #2. Mary Jo Lynch noted that there is a new format for the ÂÜÀòÍøÊÓƵsummer convention that involves various tracks. We will have to compete for space on the pro-gram. Mary Jo filled out the form and indicated three possible tracks for the proposed program: Buildings, Public Services/Outreach, and Library History.
c. Cheryl Malone also requested that liaisons to other organizations stay on for another year.
d. Cheryl reminded us that we need someone to moderate HLIS. H Net will decommission it if it does not have a moderator and more busi-ness. There were no volunteers.
VII. Adjournment: The meeting was ad-journed at 12:41 p.m. with applause for Sibyl Moses for a successful term in which a lot was accomplished and for handling meetings expeditiously.
Respectfully submitted,
Holly G. Willett, Secretary-Treasurer
New Co-Editor
Welcome to Lee Shiflett of Louisiana State Univer-sity who joins Ed Goedeken as the new co-editor of LHRT Newsletter. Thanks Lee!
LHRT Officers 2000-2001
Cheryl Knott Malone, Chair
Michele V. Cloonan, Vice Chair/Chair-Elect
Holly G. Willett, Secretary/Treasurer
Andrew Wertheimer, Secretary/Treasure-Elect
Melanie Kimball, Member-at-Large
Plummer Alston Jones, Jr. Member-at-Large
Sibyl E. Moses, Past Chair
The list of committee chairs and members and liaisons will be updated on the LHRT Website.
Liaison Reports
Liaison Report: National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History (NCC)
Submitted by Steven Sowards
NCC is a Washington-based public interest group that tracks federal government activities and issues of interest to the librarian and historian communities.
1) As of June 16th, Bruce Craig assumed his duties as NCC's new Executive Director. He succeeded Page Putnam Miller, who stepped down after twenty years to take a position at the University of South Carolina. Bruce Craig has an M.A. in public historical studies from UCSB and a Ph.D. in history from American University, as well as coursework dealing with manuscripts and archives. His career includes employment with the National Archives and Records Administration and the National Park Service; his most recent position was as chief of resources management at the Gettysburg National Military Park.
2) Each year, summer sees federal appropriations for library and history related institutions make their usual journey through the Congressional budgetary system. Thanks to the distractions of an election year and some frustration with the budget cap system (which includes fiscal assumptions that may no longer reflect the federal budget picture), progress has at times been slow. As of October 2000, funding levels for the NHPRC, Library of Congress, NARA, NEH, and other agencies remain under discussion in one legislative chamber or the other.
3) Legislation aimed at simplifying the declassifica-tion process also remains in play. One effort is the so-called "Moynihan bill" (S. 1801) that would create a nine-member "Public Interest Declassification Board." Despite years of work, the 1999 report by the Information Security Oversight Office notes that partisanship and the special challenges of email communications continue to hamper its effort.
4) The federal government initiated its new FirstGov web site at "to provide the public with easy, one-stop access to all online U.S. Federal Government resources" including the Library Congress and the National Archives.
NCC 'Washington Updates' are online at
News from the States
The Monmouth County Library in Manalapan, NJ, celebrated Archives and History Day on October 14, 2000 with a day of activities that included a film symposium, workshops on using the Internet for historical and genealogical research, and exhibits from over 50 history-re-lated organizations. On October 26, 2000, the Monmouth County Library will host/hosted "History in Your Backyard: A Workshop on Lo-cal History" sponsored by the Reference Section and the History and Preservation Section of the New Jersey Library Association.
Calls for Papers
SPECIAL ATTENTION GRADUATE STUDENTS!
The Mid-America American Studies Association will award a $250 prize for the best American Studies paper delivered at the forthcoming MAASA April 20-21, 2001, conference in Madison, Wisconsin, by a currently enrolled gradu-ate student. Deadline for submission of CONFERENCE PROPOSALS ONLY is January 3, 2001 (see conference announcement above for information on submitting proposals.) Deadline for submission of ENTIRE PAPERS upon which conference proposals are based is March 16, 2001.
Essays should be no more than 20 pages, exclusive of notes. The winner will be acknowledged at the conference, and the paper (upon recommendation of the Prize Committee) will be forwarded to AMERICAN STUDIES (MAASA's scholarly journal) for publication in a future issue.
Submit four copies of the essay (postmarked no later than March 16, 2001) to:
Wayne A. Wiegand,
Chair MAASA Graduate Stu-dent Essay Competition
4232 Helen C. White Hall
c/o School of Library and Information Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI 53706
"Print Cultures in the American West"
The Halcyon Series, Number 24
The North American West - broadly conceived - remains a relatively uncharted frontier for the rapidly growing field of "print culture," also known as the "history of the book." The Nevada Humanities Committee and the University of Nevada Press will publish Print Cultures in the American West in 2002. It will join other volumes in the Halcyon series, including Western Technological Landscapes (1998) and Western Migrations (2001)
We welcome contributions from a variety of disciplines: history, literature and criticism, graphic arts, anthropology, and other fields in the humanities, arts, social sciences, and sciences. Contributions might explore (but are not limited to): the nature of authorship, publishing, and bookselling in the West; historical and contemporary readers and reading communities; ethnic and foreign-language publishing, authorship, and reading; fine printing and book arts; periodical and newspaper publishing; labor, capital, and technology in the print trades; print cultures in specific places; and the relationships between western and eastern print cultures.
Manuscripts typically run no more than 25 double-spaced pages. Submit three copies of the manu-script. Because Halcyon employs blind peer review, author information (name, ad-dress, phone number, and email) should ap-pear only on the cover sheet. The deadline for receipt of manuscripts is April 1, 2001.
Prospective contributors may query the editor. Send manuscripts to:
Scott E. Casper, Editor, Halcyon Series
Department of History/308
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, Nevada 89557
Phone: 775-784-6484
Fax: 775-784-6805
Email: casper@unr.nevada.edu
The cultural agencies of American institutions: Analyzing sites for the production, dissemination, and appropriation of cultural capital
Annual Conference of the Mid-America American Studies Association, April 20 and 21, 2001; Madison, Wisconsin; Sponsored by the Center for the History of Print Culture in Modern America (A Joint Program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the State Historical Society of Wisconsin)
As in previous years, MAASA continues to welcome and encourage proposals for papers and panels that cover any aspect of American Studies, but this year the conference committee is especially interested in papers and panels that analyze how publicly-funded institutions like museums (e.g., art, natural, technology, and children's), historical societies, the military, prisons, libraries (e.g., public, school, academic, and special [including music, art, rare books, etc.], and schools (primary, secondary, and higher education) function as contested sites for the production, storage, and dissemination of cultural capital, but are often appropriated differently than founders, funders, and institutional managers intend(ed) by the millions of patrons (male and female) of all ethnicities, ages, races, creeds, classes, and sexual orientations who use(d) them. We also welcome papers and panels that attempt to examine the impact that the collections these institutions ac-quired have had on the evolution of American and other area studies (e.g., gender, sexuality, race, creed).
Proposals (five copies) should include a ONE-PAGE SUMMARY and a 0NE-PAGE CV for each of the presenters, sessions chairs, and commentators. Submit to:
Wayne A. Wiegand
School of Library and Information Studies
4232 Helen C. White Hall
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, Wisconsin 63706
PROPOSAL DEADLINE: JANUARY 3, 2001
Announcements
The Library History Award for the best Essay on Library History
published in the British Isles for 2000
This year's winner is Dr Christopher Skelton-Foord who is currently Reading Rooms and In-formation Services Manager at the British Li-brary Newspaper Library. Christopher is some-time Honorary Secre-tary of The Library Asso-ciation's Library History Group, and is editor of the journal Newspaper Li-brary News. He also edits the website of The British Library News-paper Library, which includes a history of the Newspaper Library at: .
Christopher's winning entry is "Surveying the Circulating Library Scene: Popular British Fiction, 1770-1830." It was published in Bibliotheken in der liter-arischen Darstellung / Libraries in Literature, edited by Peter Vodosek and Graham Jefcoate (Wies-baden: Harrassowitz, 1999).
LHRT Plans Second Book Auction for the San Francisco
ÂÜÀòÍøÊÓƵConference: Call for Donations.
The book auction held at the New Orleans ÂÜÀòÍøÊÓƵConference in 1999 was successful enough to net almost $1,000 that will be used to build the $7,500 LHRT must raise to match Wayne Wiegand's gift to endow an annual LHRT lectureship. We are now in the process of duplicating or exceeding that effort at this summer's San Francisco Conference. It is time again for supporters of the LHRT to clear room on their shelves and contribute to the cause of library history. Donations can be sent to:
Kenneth Potts
University Library
California State University, Stanislaus
801 W. Monte Vista Ave.
Turlock, CA 95382
phone: (209) 667-3332
e-mail: KPotts@stan.csustan.edu)
Ken has agreed to organize the effort out in California.
As originally conceived for the New Orleans event, books, manuscripts, and memorabilia dealing with the history of books and libraries were to be the focus. We found, however, that virtually anything of interest found a bidder. Please contribute to the cause by sending your material and by bidding at the auction. We will be announcing the time and place when these details become available. Questions may be addressed to either Ken Potts or to Lee Shiflett (lsshif@lsu.edu).
Newly Appointed Assistant University Archivist at
University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign
Christopher J. Prom has been appointed Assistant University Archivist and Assistant Pro-fessor of Li-brary Administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His duties in-clude administra-tion of the ÂÜÀòÍøÊÓƵ Archives. Chris has a master's degree from Marquette Univer-sity and is completing a dissertation in History at the University of Illinois. His research interests include British social history, archival history, archival infor-mation seeking behaviors, and human/computer interaction, and he would like to encourage LHRT members to contact him regarding research projects involving the ALA.
Fall 2000 Library History Bibliography
Editors
Ed Goedeken
Iowa State University
edgoed@iastate.edu
Lee Shiflett
Louisiana State University
lsshif@lsu.edu
Technical Advisor
Andy Bock
Iowa State University
03/2003
jkingsolver@earthlink.net
