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The Resource Main Street public library : community places and reading spaces in the rural heartland, 1876-1956, Wayne A. Wiegand

Main Street public library : community places and reading spaces in the rural heartland, 1876-1956, Wayne A. Wiegand

Creator
Summary
The United States has more public libraries than it has McDonald{u2019}s restaurants. By any measure, the American public library is a heavily used and ubiquitous institution. Popular thinking identifies the public library as a neutral agency that protects democratic ideals by guarding against censorship as it makes information available to people from all walks of life. Among librarians this idea is known as the 2library faith.3 But is the American public library as democratic as it appears to be? In Main Street Public Library, eminent library historian Wayne Wiegand studies four emblematic small-town libraries in the Midwest from the late nineteenth century through the federal Library Service Act of 1956, and shows that these institutions served a much different purpose than is so often perceived. Rather than acting as neutral institutions that are vital to democracy, the libraries of Sauk Centre, Minnesota; Osage, Iowa; Rhinelander, Wisconsin; and Lexington, Michigan, were actually mediating community literary values and providing a public space for the construction of social harmony. These libraries, and the librarians who ran them, were often just as susceptible to the political and social pressures of their time as any other public institution. By analyzing the collections of all four libraries and revealing what was being read and why certain acquisitions were passed over, Wiegand challenges both traditional perceptions and professional rhetoric about the role of libraries in our small-town communities. While the American public library has become essential to its local community, it is for reasons significantly different than those articulated by the 2library faith.3 --Provided by publisher
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
xi, 244 pages
Contents
  • Introduction: information, reading, place
  • Pride of a century: the Bryant Library of Sauk Centre, Minnesota
  • A credit to the place: the Sage Library of Osage, Iowa
  • Tourist attraction: the Charles H. Moore Library of Lexington, Michigan
  • Those commission ideas: the Rhinelander Public Library of Rhinelander, Wisconsin
  • Literature suitable for a small public library: Main Street public library collections
  • Epilogue: agent of social harmony
Isbn
9781609380670
Instance
Label
Main Street public library : community places and reading spaces in the rural heartland, 1876-1956
Title
Main Street public library
Title remainder
community places and reading spaces in the rural heartland, 1876-1956
Statement of responsibility
Wayne A. Wiegand
Creator
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
The United States has more public libraries than it has McDonald{u2019}s restaurants. By any measure, the American public library is a heavily used and ubiquitous institution. Popular thinking identifies the public library as a neutral agency that protects democratic ideals by guarding against censorship as it makes information available to people from all walks of life. Among librarians this idea is known as the 2library faith.3 But is the American public library as democratic as it appears to be? In Main Street Public Library, eminent library historian Wayne Wiegand studies four emblematic small-town libraries in the Midwest from the late nineteenth century through the federal Library Service Act of 1956, and shows that these institutions served a much different purpose than is so often perceived. Rather than acting as neutral institutions that are vital to democracy, the libraries of Sauk Centre, Minnesota; Osage, Iowa; Rhinelander, Wisconsin; and Lexington, Michigan, were actually mediating community literary values and providing a public space for the construction of social harmony. These libraries, and the librarians who ran them, were often just as susceptible to the political and social pressures of their time as any other public institution. By analyzing the collections of all four libraries and revealing what was being read and why certain acquisitions were passed over, Wiegand challenges both traditional perceptions and professional rhetoric about the role of libraries in our small-town communities. While the American public library has become essential to its local community, it is for reasons significantly different than those articulated by the 2library faith.3 --Provided by publisher
Member of
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1946-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Wiegand, Wayne A.
Dewey number
027.4/77
Government publication
government publication of a state province territory dependency etc
Illustrations
illustrations
Index
index present
LC call number
Z732.M69
LC item number
W54 2011
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
Series statement
Iowa and the Midwest experience
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Public libraries
  • Rural libraries
  • Libraries and community
Label
Main Street public library : community places and reading spaces in the rural heartland, 1876-1956, Wayne A. Wiegand
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Introduction: information, reading, place -- Pride of a century: the Bryant Library of Sauk Centre, Minnesota -- A credit to the place: the Sage Library of Osage, Iowa -- Tourist attraction: the Charles H. Moore Library of Lexington, Michigan -- Those commission ideas: the Rhinelander Public Library of Rhinelander, Wisconsin -- Literature suitable for a small public library: Main Street public library collections -- Epilogue: agent of social harmony
Control code
711989026
Dimensions
23 cm
Extent
xi, 244 pages
Isbn
9781609380670
Isbn Type
(pbk. : alk. paper)
Lccn
2011013862
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
(OCoLC)711989026
Label
Main Street public library : community places and reading spaces in the rural heartland, 1876-1956, Wayne A. Wiegand
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Introduction: information, reading, place -- Pride of a century: the Bryant Library of Sauk Centre, Minnesota -- A credit to the place: the Sage Library of Osage, Iowa -- Tourist attraction: the Charles H. Moore Library of Lexington, Michigan -- Those commission ideas: the Rhinelander Public Library of Rhinelander, Wisconsin -- Literature suitable for a small public library: Main Street public library collections -- Epilogue: agent of social harmony
Control code
711989026
Dimensions
23 cm
Extent
xi, 244 pages
Isbn
9781609380670
Isbn Type
(pbk. : alk. paper)
Lccn
2011013862
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
(OCoLC)711989026

Subject

Genre

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