Description
Book SynopsisUsing the Atlanta, Birmingham, and Nashville Public Libraries as case studies, The Development of Southern Public Libraries and the African American Quest for Library Access, 1898-1963 argues that public libraries played an integral role in southern cities' economic and cultural boosterism efforts during the New South and Progressive Eras. First, Southern public libraries helped institutionalize segregation during the early twentieth century by refusing to serve African Americans, or only to a limited degree. Yet, the Progressive Era's emphasis on self-improvement and moral uplift influenced southern public libraries to the extent that not all embraced total segregation. It even caused southern public libraries to remain open to the idea of slowly expanding library service to African Americans. Later, libraries' social mission and imperfect commitment to segregation made them prime targets for breaking down the barriers of segregation in the post- World War II era. In this study, Dalla
Trade ReviewHanbury’s three closely observed and tightly organized case studies demonstrate once and for all that southern urban library service to the African American population was at best an ambivalent proposition. The struggle for equal library service, racially integrated or not, lasted far longer than most histories credit, and was from the beginning a cornerstone on which other privileges of citizenship were built. The author’s mastery of his material is gracefully dispensed but undeniably present -- James V. Carmichael, Professor, Department of Library and Information Studies, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Table of ContentsChapter I: Reconstruction, Redemption, And Rebirth: Southern Public Library Development During The New South Era Chapter II: A New Vision, A New South: Southern Public Library Development, 1890-1950 Chapter III: “Library Users Are Seekers Of Knowledge”: Developing African American Library Service And Educating Black Librarians Chapter IV: “It Is Simply Out Of The Question To Eliminate The Colorline”: The Development Of Black Library Service In Atlanta And The Integration Of The Atlanta Public Library Chapter V: “The Library Cannot Be Opened Indiscriminately To White People And Negroes”: Nashville And The Quest For Integrated Library Service Chapter VI: “This We Believe”: Local Black Activism, The National Civil Rights Movement, And The Integration Of The Birmingham Public Library
