UK Library Association in Paris 1892

The Library Association of the United Kingdom met in Paris, France from September 12 to September 17, 1892. This unusual out-of-the-country ...

Happy Birthday May Hill Arbuthnot

Today is the 125th anniversary of the birth of May Hill Arbuthnot (1884-1969). Arbuthnot is best known in the library community for her cont...

Libraries on Coins

I have been known to complain about the lack of postage stamps that commemorate libraries and librarians, but coins commemorating libraries...

Boston Athenaeum 1848 Ticket

I recently added this 1848 library ticket (card) for the Boston Athenaeum to my collection of librariana. The ticket is signed by Athenaeum...

Number One Hundred

This is my 100th post to the Library History Buff Blog. I started the blog on November 19, 2008 as a companion to the Library History Buff ...

Package Libraries

Following up on the theme of reference/information by mail discussed in the previous two entries, here is another approach to this activity....

H. W. Wilson's Cumulative Reference Library

Phebe Swan's Gleaners' Library wasn't the only reference by mail library. The H. W. Wilson Company began publishing the Readers ...

Phebe Swan's Reference by Mail Lending Library

In researching the 1905 meeting of the Wisconsin Library Association in Beloit I came across a reference to the Gleaner's Library operat...

Log Cabin Library Update

I wrote an entry earlier this month about Wisconsin's log cabin libraries . Rrecently I became aware of the 100th anniversary of the Ge...

NYPL Postcards

I have discussed the collecting of postcards that depict libraries previously on this blog. As I noted in that post, one collector managed t...

Carnegie Library Bed & Breakfasts

Update: The Old Library Inn in Sterling closed its doors as a bed and breakfast in December, 2009. It is being sold as a private residence. ...

Wisconsin's Log Cabin Libraries

On a recent trip "Up North" in Wisconsin, I had a chance to visit one of Wisconsin's log cabin libraries. In this instance it ...