America's First Carnegie Libraries

In 1886 Allegheny, PA was the recipient of the first grant from Andrew Carnegie for a public library building in the United States. Carnegie...

Unusual Postcard of the Fairhope (AL) Public Library Circa 1909

The Fairhope Public Library in Fairhope, AL has an interesting history which I learned about after acquiring the unusual postcard shown ab...

Collectors, Archives, and My Postal Librariana Collection

In a recent exchange of messages to ALA's Library History Round Table listserv about my blog post on Charlotte Templeton , the question...

Library History Buff Holiday Letter 2012

Exhibit at the Minnesota Stamp Show It's holiday letter writing time and I thought I would continue a tradition that I started last year...

John Cotton Dana and Newark Public Library Bookplates

I was very happy to add the colorful and attractive bookplate for the Newark (NJ) Public Library (shown to the left) to my collection recen...

A 1902 Letter and the Library Career of Charlotte Templeton (1877-1970)

As sometimes happens with my approach to library history, the recent acquisition of a piece of postal librariana led me on a chase for more ...

Women Librarians and ALA's Library War Service in WWI

Mary Josephine Booth By 1917 women librarians in the United States had begun to exert more and more leadership in a profession previously do...

Vintage Library Bookplates

This post features three vintage library bookplates (shown above) in my collection. All three were formerly in books that were probably disc...

World's Largest Collection of Souvenir Library Spoons Goes on Sale

The Wisconsin Library Association Foundation and its Wisconsin Library Heritage Center are the recipients of one of the largest collections...

Mystery Woman on Postcards

Enlarged detail of postcard above. I came across three real photo postcards (2 shown above) showing an unknown woman in a library/study/offi...

Library Journal Envelope Circa 1880s

The American Library Journal (later the Library Journal ), the first professional library magazine, began publication in 1876. It was one o...

Wisconsin Library Memorabilia Exhibit

I have a large collection of Wisconsin library memorabilia that I exhibit under the auspices of the Wisconsin Library Heritage Center . The ...

The LHBB Celebrates its 4 Year Anniversary

Just over four years ago I made the decision to start a blog about library history. At the time I didn't know if I would be able to come...

Renovated St. Louis Central Library Set to Reopen

The Central Library of the St. Louis Public Library has been undergoing a $70 million restoration and modernization and is set to reopen in...

Rosenberg Day at the Rosenberg Library in Galveston, TX

Andrew Carnegie's generosity to libraries often obscures the fact that there were many other early benefactors of libraries. One of thos...

The Library of Arts and Sciences of Salem, MA 1804

I've had in my collection of librariana for some time a receipt for the payment of an annual assessment for the Library of Arts and Scie...

A Postcard Tribute to Military Libraries on Veterans Day

For Veterans Day 2012 I've put together a collection of my World War II era military library postcards. Also see my 11-11-11 tribute , m...

Vintage Library Cards

I recently added a couple of new cards to my collection of vintage library cards . One is for the Pennsylvania Hospital Library dated Nov. ...

WI Library Hall of Fame Inducts 7

Zona Gale Pulitzer Prize winning author Zona Gale (1874-1938) was one of seven individuals inducted into the Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame...

Wisconsin's Library Lions

By far the most famous library lions are those that grace the front entrance of the New York Public Library's building at Fifth Avenue a...

Library History Buff Google Images

Pinterest has become a popular Internet program to group and share images on a wide variety of topics in an interesting way. One of my favo...

Boston Athenaeum Staff 1897

My collection of postal librariana consists mostly of envelopes usually without the contents. It is much more interesting when I find the le...

The Tabard Inn Library Revolving Bookcases

One of the really nice things about writing a blog about library history and its artifacts is the contacts I get from people who share an in...

Honolulu Library and Reading Room Association

My exhibit of postal librariana titled "America's Public Libraries and Their Forerunners 1731 to 1956" includes a section on m...

New York's First County Bookmobile

Images of children using bookmobiles are among the most endearing portrayals of public library service. An especially appealing image (shown...

1928 Rural Libraries Bulletin

   The extension of public library service to rural areas in the United States has been a goal of state governments for more than twe...

Mrs. Thompson's ALA Conference Badges

As a collector of library ephemera and memorabilia I'm always happy to find items that connect me to library workers of the past who eng...

The Chelsea (MA) Public Library and the Fire of 1908

Fitz Library Fitz library on right after fire Carnegie building The Chelsea Public Library in Massachusetts was founded in 1870. A new buil...