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American Libraries before 1876
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Haynes McMullen
Foreword by Kenneth E. Carpenter
Book Code: GM1277
ISBN: 0-313-31277-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-31277-9
200 pages, charts, maps, tables
Greenwood Press
Publication: 8/30/2000
List Price: $119.95 (UK Sterling Price: £70.00)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Series Title: Beta Phi Mu Monograph Series
Series Number: 6
Reviews:
  • By reading American Libraries before 1876, one learns about asylum libraries, bray libraries, proprietary libraries, society libraries and tavern reading rooms. The differences in a "ladies' social library" and a "ladies' society library" are also examined. These are just a few of the types of libraries that are covered in this important volume. A must read for anyone interested in the history of libraries!
    —Public Library Quarterly     2001
  • This book is the capstone of a distinguished career in librarianship.
    —Virginia Libraries     April-June 2002
  • McMullen's work is a major resource for historians as they develop their understanding of the emergence of libraries and a print culture in the Colonial and early American periods. It also allows librarians to gain a unique regional perspective on this nascent period of American librarianship.
    —ARBA
  • The book clearly involved enormous effort, the painstaking collection of data, and an undeniable joy in discovery. The chapter notes attest to the author's familiarity with historical scholarship in numerous fields, not the least of which is library history.
    —College & Research Libraries
Description: Gives an account of the birth, life, and occasional death of 10,000 early American library collections and traces relationships between the presence of libraries and other aspects of American life. 1876 is considered to mark the beginning of the modern library movement in the United States, but Americans created and used thousands of libraries before that date. While the history of American libraries has not been neglected by scholars, none has examined in detail where in the different parts of the country various libraries came into existence over any extended period of time. The present work does that, detailing the kinds of libraries that existed before 1876 and including 80 to 85 kinds, depending on the way the collections are classified.
Table of Contents:
  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • Libraries in the Colonial and Revolutionary Periods
  • Libraries from the End of the Revolutionary Period through 1875
  • Kinds of Libraries in Existence before 1876
  • Social Libraries
  • Libraries Belonging to Organizations that Were Not Formed to Establish Libraries
  • Libraries Belonging to Institutions, Some of Which Were Operated by Private Organizations and Some of Which Were Operated by Governmental Units
  • Libraries Belonging to Governmental Agencies
  • Libraries Belonging to Business Firms and Individuals
  • Libraries of Uncertain Ownership
  • Subject Matter of the Collections
  • Private Libraries, School Libraries, and Sunday School Libraries
  • Afterword
  • Glossary
  • Selected Bibliography
  • Index
LC Card Number: 99-043164
LCC Class: Z731
Dewey Class: 027
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