New Series, Volume 2, Number 4 Spring 1996

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LHRT Newsletter ISSN 0737-4984.
Copyright (c) 1997 by the American Library Association may
be reproduced for the noncommercial purpose of
scientific or education advancement.



The ALA Summer LHRT Executive Board Meeting will be held In New York City on July 6, 1996 9:30am-12:30 pm.

The American Library Association Archives

By Elizabeth R. Cardman
Assistant University Archivist


The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Archives remains the major North American research center for the study of the history of librarianship. Central to these resources is the ALA Archives, which now contains nearly 2,000 cubic feet of the official records of the ALA. In addition, the UIUC Archives includes materials on librarianship with its holdings on the University of Illinois Library and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Complementing the strength of these resources are other association archives: the American Association of Law Libraries, the Association for Library and Information Science Education, the Geoscience Information Society, the Health Sciences Libraries of Illinois, and the Map and Geography Section of the Special Libraries Association. In 1994-1995 the ALA Archives expanded by nearly 100 cubic feet. Among the more important recent accessions were the papers of former ALA presidents F. William Summers and Patricia Schuman, and a major transfer of records covering the years 1964-1992 from the Executive Director's Office. Other divisions with substantial additions were ACRL, ALCTS, ALSC, and RASD. The ALA Archives also acquired the papers of Sanford Berman, spanning the years 1968-1995, and the University Archives processed a major addition to the Robert B. Downs Papers (1929-1991). Interest in the ALA Archives has continued to grow over the past year. There were reference inquiries on the following topics: women camp and hospital librarians in WWI; segregation of libraries in the South; the history of Interlibrary Loan; the nomination of Daniel Boorstin as Librarian of Congress; American librarianship and the alternative press; intellectual freedom and the Children Services Division; the history of the Black Caucus; the feminization of Southern California libraries at the turn of the century; and the history of ALA involvement in South American libraries. ALA materials date from the first American library convention in 1853 and consist of all manner of format and type. LHRT members are invited to contribute to the continued growth of this unique research collection. The Archives is interested in receiving publications, photographs, postcards, scrapbooks, personal papers and the archives of other groups, associations, and organizations that deal with important aspects of the history of librarianship. For further information, please contact the University of Illinois Archivist:

William J. Maher University Archives 19 Main Library 1408 W. Gregory Drive Urbana, Illinois 61801 Phone: (217) 333-0798 Internet: axxarch@uicvmc.aiss.uic.edu

For more information, access the ALA Archives or log directly onto the University of Illinois Gopher: telnet address: ux1.cso.uiuc.edu login: gopher

EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
Library History Round Table
January 20, 1996

The Executive Board meeting of the LHRT was called to order at 8:35 a.m., January 20, 1996, by Chairman Judith (Robin) Overmeier. The minutes were approved after the addition of attribution of the minutes to Louise Robbins.

Renee Prestegard, presenting the Treasurer's Report, indicated that our fund balance is strong.

1996 Annual Program Committee reported that Joe Raiola, the editor of Mad Magazine has agreed to keynote a session on The History of "Trash" in the Library. Wayne Wiegand has agreed to comment, and Catherine Ross will be asked as well. The program is set for Monday, July 8, from 2 - 4:00 in a large (500 capacity) room. The program will be put on by the Popular Culture and Libraries Discussion Group. Raiola will be paid $850 plus travel.

The Research Committee reported that the Annual Conference Library Research Forum would be held July 7, 1996, from 9:30 a.m. to12:30 p.m. Mary Niles Maack will moderate a program entitled "Women of Influence: Implications of Feminist Leadership Research for Library Historians." Keynote will be Professor Helen Astin, UCLA, author of Women of Vision, Women of Influence. Additional speakers will be Dorothy Anderson on "Mildred L. Batchelder, Woman of Vision," and Christine Jenkins on "Courage of the Inconspicuous: Children's Librarians as Leaders." Nancy Becker Johnson will be respondent. The following have been or will be invited to cosponsor: ALSC, AASL, LAMA, LRRT, Committee on the Status of Women, and the Feminist Task Force. Astin will receive a $500 honorarium, travel, and two nights accommodations.

The ad hoc Committee on Books and Article Awards presented draft proposals. After much discussion concerning the interval and scope of the awards, the following was agreed to:

The book award would be presented every third year, with the award announced at midwinter and presented at annual conference.

The article award will be given every two years and will be limited to an article in English on a topic in U.S. or Canadian library history. Other details of both awards morning, deadlines, jurying, etc. have yet to be worked out.

The Ad hoc Endowed Lecture Committee recommended that LHRT accept the offer of Wayne Wiegand for $7500 (or royalties from the first 2500 copies of the Dewey biography), provided this money be matched dollar for dollar before June 1, 2001. Nancy Becker Johnson moved and Anne Moss seconded the recommendation, which passed. Louise Robbins then read the other (nonmonetary) terms of Wiegand's proposal. She explained that she had located a donor for the entire $7500 matching amount provided Wiegand was willing to change the naming provision of his offer and agree to name the award after Ruth W. Brown, Bartlesville, OK, librarian fired from her job in 1950 as a result of her activities on behalf of integration and her opposition to library censorship. Robbins identified the donors as Roy and Carolyn Price Barton (and perhaps others) of Bartlesville. Wiegand agreed to the modification. Charley Seavey made and Mary Niles Maack seconded a motion that the LHRT accept the nonmonetary conditions as modified (See Attachment) and the matching donation. LHRT then discussed a contribution from LHRT itself. The amount of $1500 annually was proposed and met with general agreement. The group agreed, however, to defer the discussion of the amount and pace of the contribution until the summer conference, since a number of demands on LHRT funds were anticipated and royalties would not be available until then anyway.

The method of handling publicity for the award in order to achieve maximum publicity was discussed.

New Business

Art Young discussed the Library Research Seminar I and requested LHRT cosponsor w/$1000.00 donation. After discussion of the seminar's frequency (unknown at this time probably 5 years), whether LHRT will be asked to cosponsor each time (Yes), and whether appropriate sessions could be advertised as "sponsored by the LHRT," ("can't see why not") Mary Niles Maack made and Charley Seavey seconded the motion that LHRT contribute $1000 to the LHRT seminar and ask that one or more sessions be called "sponsored by LHRT." The motion passed.

David Hovde announced the creation of a LHRT Home Page by IU student Joy Kingsolver.

[Editor's note: see below for the location of LHRT Home Page]

Old Business

Mark Tucker brought to LHRT Don Davis's request, approved in principle last summer, for a $2500 subvention for the binding of the hardcover conference proceedings of the Library History Seminar. After some discussion, Tucker moved and Seavey seconded that LHRT approve the $2500. The motion passed. Nancy Becker Johnson announced that the IU Press is going forward w/the 1997 publication from the Library History Seminar 9.

Pamela Spence Richards announced that she has successfully arranged a conference Reading and Libraries in Times of Critical Cultural Change to be held June 1922, 1996 in Volozda, Russia. Sponsorship funds have been committed as follows: The Soros Foundation's Open Society Institute, $6000; IFLA, $3000, LHRT, $500; the Russian Ministry of Culture, $12,000. ALA and the Russian Library Association are also sponsors. A number of dignitaries will be in attendance.

Robert Martin has announced that Library History Seminar 10 will be held in the year 2000 at the Library of Congress during its Bicentennial year.

Submitted by Louise Robbins

 

LHRT Web Site News

The web page has moved to a new location. The new address is: http://www.spertus.edu/library-history/ There will be a temporary link from the old address to the new one. If you haven't visited our web site yet, stop by next time you are browsing the web. At this time there are sections relating to News and announcements, Links to the old ALA gopher with basic information about LHRT and Bibliographies on library history. If you have questions or recommendations for additional linkages please contact:

Joy Kingsolver Asher Library/Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies
618 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60605
jkingsol@spertus.edu

A big thanks to Joy for maintaining the page for us!

 

LHRT COMMITTEES 1995-1996

Executive Committee
Jim Carmichael, Past Chair
Judith Overmier, Chair
Nancy B. Johnson, Chair-Elect
Lousie S. Robbins, Secretary/Treasurer
Deana Marcum, Member-at-Large
Michele Cloonan, Member-at-Large
Renee Prestegard, ALA Staff Liaison

Dain Dissertation Committee
Mary Maack, Chair
Al Jones
Judith Overmier

Publications Committee
Michele Cloonan, Chair
Ed Goedeken
David Hovde
Robert Wick

Justin Winsor Prize Committee
Dan Lee, Chair
Mark Tucker, 2nd year
Philip A. Metzger, 1st year

Nominating Committee
Ron Blazek, Chair
Marion Casey
Louise Robbins

Research Committee
Mary N. Maack, Chair
David Lincove, year 2 (OAH)
Chris Jenkins, year 1
Mary Mallory (LRRT)
Steven Sowards (NCCPH)

Liaisons

Libraries and Culture
Michele Cloonan

Freedom to Read Foundation
Judith Overmier

National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History
Steven Sowards

IFLA
Don Davis

Association for the Bibliography of History
Kenneth J. Potts

American Association for State and Local History
Nancy Godleski

ALA Library Education Assembly
Charles Seavy

Society for American Archivists
Bob Martin

LRRT
Mary Mallory

Organization of American Historians
David Lincove

AD HOC COMMITTEES

LHRT 50th Anniversary 1998
Don Davis

Committee on the Preservation of Library Records
Jim Carmichael, Chair
Don Davis
Al Jones
Nancy Becker Johnson
Bruce Kennedy
Jean Preer
Arthur P. Young

Ad Hoc Endowed Lecture Committee
Michele Cloonan
Louise S. Robbins
Mark Tucker
Mary Niles Maack

Liaison to SHARP
Barry Neavill

Ad Hoc Committee on Books and Service Awards
Wayne Wiegand
Elizabeth Hansen
Ken Potts

Library History Seminar X
Robert Martin

Ron Blazek, Chair of the Nominating Committee
has submitted the following slate of nominees:

Chairperson-elect
Louise Robbins
University of Wisconsin
School of Library and Information Studies

Karen P. Smith
Queens College
Graduate School of Library and Information Science

Secretary/Treasurer
David Hovde
Purdue University Libraries

Lee Shiflett
Louisiana State University
Graduate School of Library and Information Science

Member-at Large
Christine Jenkins
University of Illinois
Graduate School of Library Science

Cheryl Malone
University of Texas at Austin

New Publications!

Wayne A. Wiegand Irrepressible Reformer: A Biography of Melville Dewey Chicago: ALA, 1996. $35.00

Suzanne Hildenbrand, ed. Reclaiming the American Library Past: Writing the Women In Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corp., 1996. $60.00

Congratulations to both Wayne and Suzanne for two superb efforts!

News and Announcements

The University of Wisconsin School of Library and Information Science will be celebrating the school's centennial over the next decade with an annual lecture covering a particular period in the school's history. The school began in 1896 as a summer school and turned into a fulltime school in 1906. Wayne Wiegand will be doing the first essay for the period 1896-1906 and Charles Seavey will cover the years 1906-1931 for the second lecture. Other lectures will be assigned later. All the lectures will be gathered together and published in 2006 in celebration of Wisconsin's centennial as a fulltime school.  

Announcing a new scholarly journal:

The Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing is launching a new juried scholarly journal, Book History. It will be a hardcover annual edited by Ezra Greenspan and Jonathan Rose, and published by Penn State Press. Book History is devoted to every aspect of the history of the book, broadly defined as the history of the creation, dissemination, and reception of script and print. It will publish research on the social, economic, and cultural history of authorship, editing, printing, the book arts, publishing, the book trade, periodicals, newspapers, ephemera, copyright, censorship, literary agents, libraries, literary criticism, canon formation, literacy, literary education, reading habits, and reader response. Book History will be published in English, but it welcomes articles dealing with any national literature. Publication of the first issue is scheduled for early 1998. For information, contact Dr. Linda Connors, Drew University Library, Madison, NJ 07940, USA, lconnors@drew.edu.

The Centre for English Studies at the University of London and the Graduate School of Drew University have announced a new transatlantic link to promote graduate education in book history. Under this agreement, students enrolling in doctoral programs at Drew would have the option of devoting their first year of study to the M.A. program in the History of the Book at the University of London. For further information, contact Mrs. Ruth Westerfield, Director of Graduate Admissions, Drew University, Madison, NJ. 07940 phone: 201-408-3110, e-mail: rwesterf@drew.edu

The Journal of the Early Book Society is a new annual periodical that plans to publish its first issue in Fall 1997. The editors are seeking essays of 20-25 pages (including endnotes) on any aspect of medieval manuscripts or early printed books produced between 1300 and 1550. They also solicit letters of interest from potential reviewers. Contact Martha Driver, Early Book Society, Box 732, Murray Hill Station, New York, NY 10156-0602.

National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History

The NCC has addressed the following issues during the last six months, in its capacity as a lobby on behalf of libraries, historians, and archivists: 1. NCC continues to track proposed copyright legislation, to exclude unpublished material created before 1978 from extensions of copyright coverage. Early versions of the bill would make it difficult for researchers to use a wide range of materials such as 18th century manuscripts, or historic photographs. Other legislative copyright initiatives of interest involve digital transmission of copies, fair use, and the preservation rights of libraries and archives. 2. As it has in recent years, NCC worked toward adequate future funding for the National Endowment of the Humanities, to reduce severe cuts in federal funding for fellowships, preservation microfilming, and support for museums, historical societies, libraries and other local institutions. 3. Other ongoing projects include: declassification guidelines, funding for the National Archives and Records Administration, and participation in Washington "Telecommunications Round Table" discussions ---Steven Sowards

LHRT Programs

The LHRT Program scheduled for Monday, July 8, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. is on The History of Trash in American Libraries and Culture. Joe Raiola, Associate Editor of MAD Magazine, will give an audiovisual presentation on "The Joy of Censorship," focusing on First Amendment issues, the history of MAD Magazine and its place in American popular culture, and on William Gaines, the publisher who began MAD Magazine. Respondents Wayne A. Wiegand, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Wisconsin, and Judith Overmier, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Oklahoma, will comment from the perspectives of library history, popular culture in libraries, and intellectual freedom.

FOURTH LIBRARY HISTORY ROUND TABLE RESEARCH FORUM
Sunday July 7, 1996 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Women of Influence: Implications of Feminist Leadership Research for Library Historians

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Helen S. Astin, Professor, Education Department, UCLA
Woman Leaders: Power As Empowerment

SPEAKERS: Mary Niles Maack, Professor, LIS Dept, UCLA
Women In Librarianship: Identifying the Leaders

Dorothy J. Anderson, Emerita, LIS Dept, UCLA
Seizing the Day: The Powerful Impact of Mildred L. Batchelder.

Christine A. Jenkins, Assitant Professor, GSLIS, U of IL
Taking a Positive Attitude: Youth Services Librarians as Leaders 1930-1960

Reactor: Nancy Becker Johnson, Assistant Prof, Wayne State U, Lib Science Program

In 1992 LHRT launched Library History Round Table Research Forum with the goal of sponsoring an annual forum where both established scholars and younger researchers would be invited to present papers on a range of theoretical and methodological issues of concern to library historians. This year our theme explores the possibility of drawing from contemporary social science research certain models and theories that can be tested against the experience of the past. Because leading women in the library field have often exerted great influence without holding directorships of major libraries, we have decided to focus on implications that recent feminist resarch has had on the development of a new paradigm of leadership characterized by vision, commitment, cooperation, empowerment and risk.

For our 1996 Research Forum we are especially fortunate to have as our keynote speaker Dr. Helen S. Astin, a psychologist who is professor of higher education and associate director of the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. Professor Astin has served as a member of the board of the National Council for Research on Women and on the Committee on Women's Employment and Related Social Issues of the National Research Council. She has held offices in several professional associations and has been the recipent of many awards, including a honorary doctoral degrees from Marymount Manhattan College and from the American College in Switzerland. In addition to numerous articles she is the author of eleven books, including a groundbreaking study, The Woman Doctorate in America (1969). Other book titles include Some Action of Her Own: The Adult Woman in Higher Education (1976), Women: A Bibliography of Their Professional Careers (1974).

More recently, Helen Astin and Carole Leland coauthored Women of Influence, Women of Vision: A CrossGenerational Study of Leaders and Social Change (1991)a work which Warren Bennis, a noted management authority, describes as "the single best book on women and leadership." In this study Astin and Leland propose a new paradigm of leadership that includes "nonpositional leaders" as well as those who hold high level posts in organizations. In this 1991 study Astin and Leland found that women educational and political leaders often define power as empowerment, thus treating power not as a set of hierarchical relationships but as an expandable resource that is "produced and shared by leaders and followers alike. This conception views power as energy that transforms oneself and others, and identifies the effective leader as one who empowers others to act" (p. 1). In opening the LHRT forum, Dr. Astin will present this new model of leadership which she has further developed for use in workshps on "leadership development as leadership for service."

Following Dr. Astin's remarks Mary Niles Maack will briefly relate this new leadership model to library history where there is a need to apply broader criteria in identifying women leaders, especially in the field of children's librarianship. Dr. Maack, who is past chair of LHRT, holds the rank of professor in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. Although the majority of her research is in library history, she and Dr. Joanne Passet coauthored a recent book entitled Aspirations and Mentoring in an Academic Environment: Women Faculty in Library and Information Science (1994). Professor Maack's publications have appeared in Libraries & Culture, Library Quarterly, Library Trends, Library and Information Science Research, and the Bulletin des Bibliotheques (Paris). She has also authored articles for ALA World Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia of Library History (Garland, 1994).

Dr. Maack will be followed by Dorothy J. Anderson who will analyze the dynamic leadership of Mildred L. Batchelder and assess her lasting impact on children's librarianship and children's literature. Dr. Anderson's study is based on personal interviews with Mildred L. Batchelder and her associates as well as archival documents related to Batchelder's work as ALA's chief of library services to children and youth for thirty years. Early in her career Dr. Anderson held a post as Batchelder's assistant at ALA headquarters before going on to other positions, including the directorship of the Leadership Training Institute in Washington, D.C. Prior to taking an early retirement Dr. Anderson served as a faculty member and as Assistant Dean at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at UCLA. While at UCLA she played a major role in creating and directing the Senior Fellows Program for academic librarians and the Transition into Management program for promising library leaders from diverse cultural backgrounds. Dr. Anderson has published widely on management and her articles appear in Library Trends, Journal of Library Administration, Drexel Library Quarterly, and Top of the News.

Finally, Christine A. Jenkins will present her research on the important but less visible leadership role of youth services librarians working from the Depression through the Cold War. Dr. Jenkins will examine the activities of the leaders of ALA's youth services divisions (AASL, ALSC, and YALSA) during a time of great political and cultural change when librarians were faced with book censorship attempts by McCarthy Era pressure groups.

Her research demonstrates how these leaders utilized the rhetoric and strategies of femaleintensive welfare professions to effectively maintain their professional jurisdiction over the selection and evaluation of books for children and young adults. Dr. Jenkins is an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, where she teaches courses in youth services, young adult literature, gender issues, and LIS foundations and history. She received both her MLS and her doctorate from the University of Wisconsin Madison where she completed her dissertation, "The Strength of the Inconspicuous: Youth Services Librarians, the American Library Association, and Intellectual Freedom for the Young, 1939-1955." She is an active member of the ALA, serving on the Caldecott Committee and the Intellectual Freedom Round Table and chairing the ALSC Intellectual Freedom Committee. Her work has appeared in Libraries & Culture, the Journal of Youth Services in Libraries, Booklist, Feminist Collections, and in a recent collection of papers, edited by Suzanne Hildenbrand, Reclaiming the American Library Past: Writing the Women In (Ablex, 1996).

The program will close with comments from Nancy Becker Johnson, an active member of LHRT executive committee. Dr. Johnson, who is known for her important bigraphical study of Sarah Bogle, currently holds a postion as Assistant Professor at Wayne State University's Library Science Program.

Other Meetings

The Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing will be hosting its fourth conference at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Mass. on July 18-21, 1996. Inquiries about the conference should be sent to John B. Hench, AAS, 185 Salisbury St., Worcester, Mass., 01609-1634. e-mail: cfs@mark.mwa.org

Click here for Abstracts of the conference papers.

Calls for Papers

The Center for the History of Print Culture in Modern America has issued a call for papers for its upcoming conference "Defining Print Culture for Youth: Children and Reading since 1876" which will be held May 9-10, 1997. Deadline for submission is December 1, 1996. For information contact James P. Danky, Conference Coordinator, Center for the History of Print Culture in America, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 816 State St., Madison, WI 53706. phone: 608-264-6532; e-mail: james.danky@ccmail.adp.wisc.edu

The fifth annual conference of the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing will meet 4-7 July 1997 at the University of Cambridge.

SHARP welcomes proposals for papers dealing with the creation, diffusion, or reception of script or print in any historical period. There are no limitations on topics. Proposals for either individual papers (20 minutes in length) or full panels (comprising a chair and three papers) may be submitted. We may also sponsor workshops devoted to shorter, more informal presentations of works in progress.

Proposals (one page maximum per paper) and inquiries about the conference itself should be sent to:

The Acting Secretary SHARP Conference Programme Committee 51 Sherlock Close Cambridge CB3 0HP United Kingdom

The absolute deadline for receipt of proposals is 20 November 1996. All participants, including presenters, will be expected to pay their own expenses, including the registration fee; so please submit proposals only if you can arrange for your own funding.

"William Gilmore Simms and the Development of American Letters" will be the theme of a conference meeting 10-13 April 1997 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, sponswered by the Center for the Study of the American South. Proposals are invited on such topics as the growth of American publishing, changes in cultural literacy, education, and readers and reading in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, including Simms' role in such developments and his careers as author, editor, and champion of American and Southern letters. Send paper and session proposals by, with curriculum vita, by 17 January 1997 to Stephen Berry, Center for the Study of the American South, 03A Manning Hall, University of North Carolina, Campus Box 3355, Chapel Hill NC 27599. For further information call 919-962-5665, fax 919-962-4433, or e-mail swberry.irss@mhs.unc.edu