200 Year Old New York City Circulating Library Letter

I recently acquired what is now the oldest item of postal librariana in my collection. It is a folded letter written on March 14, 1812 by An...

Libraries and the Ohio Flood of 1913

"In late March 1913, an unusually heavy rainstorm moved into Ohio. It rained steadily for five days and the streams all over Ohio rose ...

World's Smallest Presidential Library?

  It has been claimed that David Rice Atchison (1807-1886) was technically President of the United States on March 4, 1849. This claim is ba...

Samuel Swett Green, Father of Library Reference Work

On Presidents Day we can also celebrate the 175th anniversary of the birth of Samuel Swett Green (1837-1918), one of the founders of the Ame...

Matchbook Librariana

One of my smallest collections of librariana consists of library matchbooks. I currently have only five items in the collection. Matchbook c...

Henry Carr's Collection of ALA Memorabilia

Henry James Carr (1849-1929) was appointed the first library director of the newly completed Albright Memorial Library in Scranton, PA (now...

Leather Postcard of the Sedalia (MO) Public Library

I just acquired my first leather library postcard (see above) which features the Sedalia Public Library in Sedalia, MO. According to the li...

Love and Libraries

Last year on Valentine's Day I featured some of my library buttons with a love theme. This year I thought I would show off my specially ...

Poet Laureates on Postage Stamps

Poets to be honored on postage stamps on April 21 On April 21 the United States Postal Service will issue a set of 12 stamps depicting twent...

Wiegand's Main Street Public Library

Forty-nine years ago I took a job as a page/clerk at the Public Library of Nashville and Davidson County. I've been involved one way or ...

125th Anniversary of the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY

The Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. The Institute is a prestigious private college with an e...

Lloyd P. Smith and the Library Co. of Philadelphia

Founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin and friends, the Library Company of Philadelphia is the oldest continuing library not affiliated with a...

Azariah Turns 150 Today

Photo of Root from Oberlin College Archives Today is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Oberlin (OH) College Librarian and ALA President ...

Panizzi to the Mayor of Boston, 1858

Antonio or Anthony Panizzi (1797-1879) had a long career at the Library of the British Museum (now the British Library) starting in 1831 and...