particularly so in libraries with their professional and supporting associations.
These formations resulted predictably from a new nation that was neither
centrally united under a monarchy nor completely individualized. The former
colonies, converted to states with a new machinery of government, represented
the barest beginnings of a new society that would mature with considerable
struggle right up to its next de
fi
ning event, the American Civil War. In this
uncertain environment, individuals sought structure in small groups of a size
that allowed them to retain personal connections while protecting them against
hostile forces. Others have observed the deep intertwining of social libraries
and voluntary associations.
“
The transformation and adaptation of many
social libraries enabled both the development of special associations deter-
mined by reader interests and by occupational gender, or age pro
fi
les, and the
diversi
fi
cation of established
‘
library societies
’
to embrace wider-ranging col-
lections and services
”
(Augst, 2001, p. 8; Raven, 2007, p. 52). Shera adds,
“
Generically and reduced to its simplest constituent elements, the social library
was nothing more than a voluntary association of individuals who had
contributed money toward a common fund to be used for the purchase of
books
”
(Shera, 1965, p. 58). In the three types of libraries, one can discern the
outlines of a class structure, high, middle, and low, although the libraries
themselves were as various as the individual populations that they served.
Libraries today, amid technological advance and change, are focused on larger
systems and consortia, a trend that received a major boost from the Civil War.
But it is well to remember the sense of personal identity supported by earlier
libraries with small, personalized communities.
“
Recent efforts to merge
promising networks into routine library services are indeed exciting, but at the
same time it is important to remember that the types of information processed
by these networks are not universal and do not encompass information in all
its cultural forms
”
(Wiegand, 1999, p. 22). The pre
–
Civil War libraries served
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as a transition from the personalized focus of Franklin
’
s original library to the
profession that was to follow.
The Modern, Professional Library
The Boston Public Library, founded in 1854, was the
fi
rst public library. Yet,
coming from the most literate part of the country, it was ahead of its time. The
movement it represented developed over the next decades, culminating in another
milestone, the year 1876, in which the founding of the American Library Asso-
ciation (ALA) marked the start of the profession. Between these two dates
occurred, arguably, the most critical event in American history, the Civil War,
which answered outstanding political questions from the Revolution and put the
country into its modern form, placing its stamp on libraries in the process. Even
prior to the war, the internal dynamics of libraries had been moving toward public
libraries. The demand for reading was well established and continued to grow
with increasing prosperity and improved technology of production. At the same
time, the previous models for libraries were found to be unsatisfactory. They were
too small, too fragmented, and too vulnerable to the vagaries of the economy. A
sense developed that such a vital social function as libraries could and should be
the responsibility of society as a whole, which would pay taxes to support them
(Augst, 2007b, p. 2; Kevane & Sundstrom, 2014, p. 126; Shera, 1965, p. 75).
The Civil War accelerated these trends through immense economic expansion
and prosperity. In the desperate struggle for survival, society learned how to
industrialize and organize on a large scale, and these new energies and capabilities
now turned toward commerce (Leonard, 1994, p. xv; Lundberg, 1984, p. 374;
Scott, 1993, pp. 8
–
9). In addition, the war wrought deep changes in attitude. With
the con
fi
rmation of the federal government as the supreme authority over the
states, the population accepted a higher degree of systemization and obedience
than before. Large-scale manufacturing of weapons and war material, social
organization on the home front for medical care and fundraising, and, above all, a
modern trained and equipped army accustomed Americans to unquestioning
obedience in large, highly disciplined organizations. It has been observed that the
preservation of the Union in war came at the price of a reduction in personal
freedom that had existed before (Foner, 1980, p. 33; Kraemer, 1974, p. 12;
Leonard, 1978, p. 15; McPherson, 1988, p. 859). In any case, the aftermath of war
set the stage for the modern library movement.
Modern public libraries like the Boston Public Library were large, imposing
tax-supported buildings, housing extensive collections, and staffed by a newly
professionalized and trained staff, dedicated to a mission (Augst, 2007a, p. 150).
The new libraries, in some cases, literally inherited the collections of the preceding
types of libraries, or, at any rate, their visions of library service. With reference to
our de
fi
nition of this term, the two competing parts of master and servant were
both carried forward. The modern libraries were
fi
rmly dedicated to the support
of the popular masses through collections of unprecedented size available with
few restrictions and free of charge. Yet, libraries carried out this task with a high
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degree of organization and purpose, foreign to the convivial bonds of their
forebears, and with intense ideological enthusiasm (Augst, 2007a, p. 153). Public
librarians identi
fi
ed with the revitalized country, combining a mystic almost
religious devotion to the Union with the con
fi
dence of victory.
“
The new culture,
exhibiting an exuberance of movement, expansion, progress and participation,
celebrating individualism, local independence and initiative, and exalting the
human spirit, molded the democratic faith into a religion of nationalism
”
(Dit-
zion, 1947, p. 57). It is likely that the notion of the library as a service profession,
dedicated to society, dates from this time. Once again self-improvement and
accommodation were folded together, but in different and somewhat deceptive
terms. The apparent celebration of
“
individualism
”
was harnessed to social good
“
a force for an ordered, enlightened, educated and informed citizenry
”
(Kevane &
Sundstrom, 2014, p. 132; Wiegand, 1999, pp. 3
–
4). Speci
fi
cally, recreation itself
was systematized and subordinated to self-improvement.
“
Public libraries sought
to popularize leisure reading among what they repeatedly called the urban
‘
masses
’
with the explicit aim of transforming
‘
personal character and condition.
’
In this sense, as they sought to identify and respond to
‘
real desire
’
for books,
Boston Public and other libraries helped to make the choice of reading a secular
form of ethical practice and a modern habit of self-government
”
(Augst, 2007a,
p. 160). Fiction (and entertainment generally), rather than coexisting with
self-improvement, played a subordinate role of luring patrons into the library
where they could be directed to higher-quality material on philosophy, history,
and science (Pawley, 2007, pp. 272, 274). The role of librarians as guides to
critical thinking may not be so novel after all but date from this earlier time. At
any rate, the library
’
s twin goals of self-improvement and accommodation were
rearranged to favor standards and social control in a way that was not always
obvious.
Social Justice and a New Historical Perspective
The library, as a utopian haven in the midst of society, endures as an image of
the profession. However, such a pivotal development in history as the Civil War
inspired other, radically different interpretations of the new libraries and the
culture which generated them.
“
Certainly we need to build on the successes, but
too often we fail to recognize the shortcomings, in large part because the cul-
tures in which we are immersed
–
or to which we aspire
–
tend to control the
range of questions we ask about ourselves and our profession. That is why
constant reexamination of our past from alternative perspectives has so much
value. Like a convex mirror, it can show the parameters of tunnel vision and
reveal many of the blind spots
”
(Wiegand, 1999, p. 3). One such spot is based on
the issue of diversity that is fundamental to our study. Diversity has driven the
movement of social justice, which librarians have adopted for their own pro-
fession (Mathuews, 2016, p. 10). The hope is that libraries can help to reverse
forms of social oppression on disadvantaged groups, especially institutionalized
practices that are more damaging for being disguised and insidious. Yet,
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scanning back in time for the sources of this oppression, some have identi
fi
ed an
unlikely culprit
–
modern public libraries! Rather than a public service, modern
libraries are interpreted as an attempt to retain social control by Anglo-
American elites in New England (Augst, 2007a, p. 151; Lerner, 1998, p. 198;
Malone, 2000, p. 77; Salter & Salter, 1991, p. 19). Just as the Puritans steadily
lost their political dominance in an earlier time with the in
fl
ux of immigrants
and the expansion of the population, their descendants, the New England
educational elite, lost ground in the continued expansion of the country. Their
political power shrank with the westward expansion and the addition of new
states. Their cultural power shrank as well due to the
“
damned mob of scrib-
bling women
”
, the in
fl
ux of Catholic immigrants, and a range of new cultural
forces. To survive, the New England elite sponsored the movement of public
libraries which would serve as a cultural Trojan Horse similar to the schools and
colleges that they spread throughout the country. Appearing as a gift, these
libraries served as a means to instill New England culture in populations
through the selection of reading. Their entertainment value also served to
distract the masses and keep them from changing the social structure which the
New Englanders hoped to preserve. Thus, libraries, with their appearance of
benevolence, actually exercised social control.
“
Public libraries and librarians,
like teachers and clergymen, saw themselves as upholders of the established
order. Their educational and social mission was to enable men and women to
rise within society as currently constituted, not to provide them with the intel-
lectual tools to overthrow it
”
(Lerner, 1998, p. 148; See also Weigand, 1999,
p. 19). A full exploration of these diametrically opposed versions of librarianship
–
as agent of democracy or social oppression
–
is beyond the scope of this book. We
merely observe the different, even opposite interpretations of the founding of
public libraries as signs of their complex social function. Further discussion of
social justice librarianship continues in Chapter 5.
The theory of controlling public libraries draws on the story of Andrew Car-
negie, one of the wealthiest men in American history and a captain of industry
who helped to shape an obsessively commercial period in the late nineteenth
century, known as The Gilded Age. Carnegie single-handedly advanced the public
library movement by building a large number of public libraries throughout the
country. Virtually upon request, he would fund a lavish library building complete
with a collection, provided the receiving community agreed to a perpetual tax to
maintain it. His motivation was intensely personal. Growing up as a poor
immigrant child from Scotland, he credited libraries with giving him knowledge to
advance steadily from menial jobs as a young child to become one of the
wealthiest and most successful businessmen on Earth. He was a true life Horatio
Alger story, more implausible than many of the novels rejected by public libraries.
In later life, he dedicated much of his huge fortune to philanthropy, and a part
of this project was dedicated to libraries to give young children the same
opportunity he had (Carnegie, 1920, p. 35; Martin, 1993, p. vii; Mickelson, 1975,
pp. 123
–
124). An immigrant, preaching a gospel of self-improvement and
providing the means to do so, Carnegie infused a new iteration of the American
dream into public libraries (Wiegand, 1999, p. 8).
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Yet, social justice librarianship paints a signi
fi
cantly different picture of Car-
negie. As a leading proponent of public libraries, he did not support public service
as he claimed but advanced social control and oppression and in a uniquely
personal way. Carnegie
’
s fortune was built on steel, the very stuff of industriali-
zation, for which there was an insatiable and endless demand by the booming
economy. Unfortunately, the steel industry and coal mining, which fueled it, had
the most brutal working conditions in an age of unregulated and exploitative
labor. There were any number of risks of death or severe injury. Those who
survived in coal mines breathed in suspended coal dust that led to chronic illness
and lingering death. Steel workers suffered extremes of temperature and endless
deafening noise (Asher, 1978, p. 64; Richards, 1993, p. 12). The stresses were
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