A Year in the Life of The Library History Buff

Since my retirement from full time library work in 2003 I have devoted more and more time to my role as a "library history buff". ...

Henry Bartlett Van Hoesen, Brown University Librarian

It must be tough to have Christmas Day as one's birthday. Henry Bartlett Van Hoesen (1885-1965) was one individual who suffered this fat...

Pasadena Public Library 1890

Pasadena, California is being mentioned quite often here in Wisconsin because the University of Wisconsin football team will be playing in t...

Origin of Vertical Files

Research by the Early Office Museum makes a strong case that the first vertical file cabinets were produced by Library Bureau, the library ...

Book Retrieval Systems

When the magnificent new central library building (now known as the McKim Building) of the Boston Public Library opened at its Copley Squar...

Great European Libraries at The Morgan

From December 10, 2010 through January 9, 2011 one of America's great libraries, the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City, will...

Introducing the Chicago Public Library

The recent winter weather in the Midwest including Chicago brought to mind a small booklet that I have about the collections, services, and ...

Melvil Dewey's Library Postal Card

Since today (Dec. 10) is the birthday (159th) of Melvil Dewey, I thought it would be an appropriate occasion for a post about the  postal ca...

License Plate Librariana

Thanks to the generosity of library consultants Bill Wilson and Ethel Himmel I have added a license plate to my collection of librariana. It...

ALA's First San Francisco Conference 1891

In 1891 the American Library Association held its first conference on the West coast in San Francisco. It was the thirteenth conference of A...

Otis Hall Robinson (1835-1912), Rochester University Librarian

Happy birthday to the man who put the hole in library catalog cards. Today marks the 175th anniversary of the birth of Otis Hall Robinson wh...

New York Society Library Charging Ledger 1789-1792

Earlier in the year there was a great deal of publicity about a couple of overdue books at the New York Society Library (NYSL) which had be...

MA State Library Recalls Law Books 1855

The State Library of Massachusetts was established in 1826. By the 1840s the space in the Massachusetts State House for the library was gre...