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Women’s Contributions to American Public Libraries

Women’s Contributions to American Public Libraries. Nancy Gallegos LIS 701. Women’s Club . Middle-class women formed groups, literary clubs Focus on “self-improvement” Study circles, reading circles, discussion activities

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Women’s Contributions to American Public Libraries

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  1. Women’s Contributions to American Public Libraries Nancy Gallegos LIS 701

  2. Women’s Club • Middle-class women formed groups, literary clubs • Focus on “self-improvement” • Study circles, reading circles, discussion activities • Small groups united to form the General Federation of Women’s Club (GFWC)

  3. General Federation Of Women’s Clubs • Focus went from “self-improvement to civic improvement” (Watson 235) • Libraries became a prominent focus

  4. Traveling Libraries • In 1893, Melvil Dewey instituted system of traveling libraries throughout New York • Women’s clubs organized traveling libraries from state to state • Women’s clubs “saw the traveling library as a natural adjunct of the public school and as a major force for general public education” (Watson 240) • Anticipated this would lead to free public libraries in areas that did not have such institutions

  5. “Our practical aim as a Federation, is to bring into existence to every woman in our state, no matter where she may live, the beneficial influences of a library and club…. Every village, hamlet, agricultural district and city suburb… has able women whose lives are isolated and purposeless, because there are no centers of intellectual and social stimulus within their reach.” • Report of the fourth biennial of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs in Ohio

  6. Public libraries were closely related to the development of the public education • The first library tax laws were for the school district libraries • The progressive education movement stressed the importance of providing a variety of books to extend and support lessons • Public libraries were found to be the most acceptable form of adult education

  7. Contributions • Donated money, books and/or space to house books • Volunteered or trained as librarians • Fund-raising activities • Secured state tax appropriations • Rallied behind Carnegie grant money to establish public institution

  8. The Carnegie Formula • Demonstrate the need for a public library • Provide the building site • Provide ten percent of the cost of the library's construction to support its operation (build collections, hire staff, etc)

  9. Contributions • By 1933, women’s associations founded 75% of public libraries • Arizona: 37 libraries were sponsored • Arkansas: 28 libraries were established • Idaho: 15 traveling libraries were supported • New Mexico: Organized and ran the public libraries until 1962 • New York: Women associations founded the first public library • Utah: Founded 11 public libraries • Washington: petitioned legislature and secured funding and Carnegie grant money for public libraries

  10. Resources Freeman, Robert S. & Hovde, David M. “Libraries to the People: Histories of Outreach.” North Carolina: McFarland, 2003. Watson, Paula D. “Founding Mothers: The Contribution of Women’s Organizations to Public Library Development in the United States.” Library Quarterly 64 (July 1994): 233-269.

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