Entry #9

• Stotts, Stuart.  (2006-2007)  "A thousand little libraries: Lutie Stearns, the Johnny Appleseed of Books."  Wisconsin Magazine of History, 90 (2), 38-49.
• A "Dig Deeper" article from Contemporary Libraries
• Accessible online at http://bit.ly/2muxhmA

I live in the Fort Wayne area.  Of course I clicked on article with "Johnny Appleseed" in the title.

I admire Lutie Stearns' work ethic and commitment to her ideals.  In her time with the Wisconsin Free Library Commission, she "had helped to establish over 150 free libraries, 1,400 traveling libraries, and 14 county library systems."  She was also a member of the ALA, and an accomplished public speaker despite her stutter.  I liked that the beginning of her career as a librarian happened because she was a teacher bringing her students to check out book, trying to make up for inadequate school library.  She was very committed to getting books into the hands of children, which wasn't a popular idea at the time because it was thought kids would be destructive.  From excerpts of letters included, it seems like communities really took pride and ownership in their little libraries.  It was good to read this historical example of the library's purpose of self-education, and to find inspiration in such a woman as Lutie Stearns.

Entry #8

• Glynn, Tom.  (2005)  "The New York Society Library: books, authority, and public in colonial and early republican New York."  Libraries & Culture, 40 (4), 493-529.
• A "Dig Deeper" article from Modern Libraries
• Accessible online at http://bit.ly/2mgtWvz

I love learning about Colonial & Revolutionary Era America.  Ergo, this article's addition to my history log.

As America struggled to find its political footing, from republicanism to democracy, it would have an effect on the New York Library, evolving it from a patriarchal library that collected materials based on their worth to the "commonweal" to a more egalitarian public institution.  But even before the Revolution, the "founding of the New York Society Library reflected and was part of pre-revolutionary colonial politics" between the Whigs and Tories.  The founding of the library was in fact an attempt to counteract the Anglican/Crown influence that was coming out of King's College.

As a huge fan of the musical Hamilton, I had a laugh reading about the "contested election of 1825," in which the library board was almost completely replaced after an unprecedented level of votes came in.  A theory going around at the time was that the takeover would have turned the library into a bank.  Glynn points out that there is no evidence of this, but I thought back to reading Ron Chernow's Hamilton biography and the common belief that bankers were scamming the public with their stocks.  (Which is why Jefferson and Hamilton butted heads so much, and this fear of stocks led the private  investigation into Hamilton's relationship with James Reynolds, which then exploded into the very public sex scandal with Maria Reynolds.)

Entry #7

• Comerford, Kathleen M.  (1999)  "What did early modern priests read? The library of the seminary of Fiesol, 1647-1721."  Libraries & Culture, 34 (3), 203-221.
• A "Dig Deeper" article from Modern Libraries
• Accessible online at http://bit.ly/2l7H7tr

I chose this article to read because I knew how much influence religious institutions had on libraries and literacy in society.  "If a person is known through her books, then an institution is no less so, and these early inventories allow historians to understand the intellectual atmosphere of a fledgling establishment."  That is the thesis statement of Comerford's article, with which I agree and is why I was interested in this topic.

I was surprised by what I found.  I imagined churches and monasteries always seeking to have large libraries, the best copies.  Common sense would dictate that smaller institutions of course wouldn't or couldn't, but regardless, that isn't what I imagined.  But that was the case of the Fiesol seminary.  They kept a library as small as they were, although inventory records often seemed to be incomplete or missing.  What was available showed that the seminary was focused more on the practical aspects of their job, rather than the theological.  Rather than books on Scripture or debating it, they texts on how to hear confessions, punish sinners, and counseling methods.  Comerford also noted the increase in grammatical books over time, indicating either (or both) a renewed interest in education or the downward trend in age among those living in the seminary.  I did enjoy reading the conundrum Comerford also came across; that Fiesol held volumes by Tacitus, a critic of Christianity who had fallen so far out of favor as to have most of his books destroyed, and volumes by Justus Lipsius, who was mostly responsible for pushing Tacitus out of favor.  Judging by the rest of the library holdings, it wasn't out of intellectual responsibility to examine both side...but rather nobody realized and nobody weeded!

Entry #6

• Singleton, Brent D. (2004).  "African Bibliophiles: Book and Libraries in Medieval Timbuktu."  Libraries & Culture, 39 (1), 1-12.
• A "Dig Deeper" article from Early Libraries
• Accessible online at http://bit.ly/2kuUMez

My interest in this article is the same as in previous entries--what were libraries like in non-Western historical context?  This is the first article on African libraries that I have seen thus far, so I jumped at the chance to read it.

The beginning of Timbuktu's story is familiar--a succession of rulers who emphasize education and literacy bring the city and its library into a "Golden Age," famed throughout the Islamic world, before war "reduced the level of scholarship to a low from which the city would never completely recover."  During the Golden Age, the learned society was like that of other Islamic cultures I have read in this class.  Books were more than just information, they were status symbols!  No business, mosque or scholar's home was complete without a vibrant library.  I loved this (albeit extreme) example pulled from a man's journal, that he "was able to purchase a rare, imported copy of Muhammad ibn Yaqub al-Firuzabadi’s al-Qamus al-muhit for the enormous sum of eighty mithqals.  This amount was equal to the purchase of two horses and totaled roughly twelve ounces of gold."  As also evidenced by trading logs, paper and ink were in high demand.

No public libraries were established, however.  Funding for private libraries came completely from wealthy individuals.  This is apparently at odds with library culture in most Islamic countries, which were known for providing free supplies so patrons could copy materials at will.  But given that the city of Timbuktu was geographically isolated and its society already bent towards great displays of individual wealth, it is not surprising they did not adopt a public institution.

The Moroccan invasion of 1591 put an end to this Golden Age, but I don't think it put an end to Timbuktu's library culture.  I was reminded while reading this of a recent story about a movement of librarians, based in Timbuktu, to preserve historic manuscript deemed forbidden by al-Qaeda.  What a history within a single city! 

Entry #5

• Ranasinghe, R.H.I.S. (2008)  "How Buddhism Influenced the Origin and Development of Libraries in Sri Lanka (Ceylon): From the Third Century BC to the Fifth Century AD."  Library History, 24 (4), 307-312.
• A "Dig Deeper" article from Early Libraries
• Accessible online at http://bit.ly/2lxiJC4

It's common to hear how Christian ideals influenced literacy in Western Europe.  And in the assigned book for this class, Muhammad's emphasis on Muslims being able to read and write themselves, enabling them to think critically on Islam.  (This, despite the fact that Muhammad himself was illiterate, which should've convinced people that he was truly speaking/writing Allah's word, he said.)  So I was interested to read how Buddhism affected literacy.

Similar to Western history, education fell under the purview of monks in Sri Lanka.  "All education, sacred as well as secu-lar, was in the hands of the monks. They had the monopoly of learning and of the leisure to impart it. They were the only custodians and bearers of the Buddhist culture."  Buddhist scriptures were handed down orally, until famine and civil unrest in the first century CE drove monks away from their traditional temples.  During their flight, to protect their traditions, monks finally wrote their scriptures down.  From this would grow a new emphasis on handwriting.  "Buddhist scholars were motivated to write religious books, as it was considered to be a meritorious act."  This idea of writing as "a meritorious act" also similar to how copying was viewed in Christianity and Islam.  Libraries then developed, of course with large collections of religious texts.

What really helped spread literacy was the Buddhist ideal of writing down all meritorious acts of a person's life.  Beauty, health, intelligence, wealth, and the like were believed to be bestowed in the next life for these good deeds which would be recorded and then read on the deathbed.  Monks handled this themselves as a temple service but eventually began teaching the general public, taking it as a new tenet.  Buddhist kings would also eventually adopt this sense of responsibility:

"Further, Sinhala Buddhist kings did much work to develop the learning activities of the citizens and provide facilities for both adults and children to learn. They took responsibility for the welfare of citizens. They thought that educating citizens was a duty of royalty. In order to enlighten the public, some of the kings built preaching halls in every village of the kingdom and kept Buddhist books in them."

It was interesting to see how the Buddhist attitude towards literacy, initially jealously guarded, grew outwards.  The written texts that would accumulate in Sri Lanka would continue spreading outward as Buddhist scholars from India and China would come to study and then make copies to go home with them.

Entry #4

• Finley, Susan (2014).  "Census Library of Ephesus: The man and the city behind the famous facade." Libra, 64 (3), 277-292.
• A "Dig Deeper" article from Ancient Libraries
• Accessible online at http://bit.ly/2kLJPbJ

Thanks to Wikimedia Commons
http://bit.ly/2lix0TV

"Celsus Library of Ephesus is one of the oldest and most frequently photographed library structures in the world."  In case you're like me, and somehow still had never seen it, here's a pic:

Finley opens her article by pointing out that most researchers focus on the Celsus Library's predecessors (the Alexandrian Library, the Library of Pergamum, or just earlier Roman public libraries) and do not delve into the history of this particular one.  She argues that it is important to learn what we can of Celsus Library, even if it is done in a roundabout way due to a lack of operating records.  "Moreover, a public library dedicated to an individual, as the Library of Celsus was, can provide potential insights into the community the library serves and the person it honors as well as the intentions of its benefactors."  (pg. 2)  I liked this sociological viewpoint.

Indeed, the first 8 pages describe the history and socio-economic circumstances of the city of Ephesus.  This could seem beside-the-point, but actually shows how the city emphasized the arts with its theater that could seat 10% of the population at a single event, the importance of education in all the school records, and the seaport records show how the library's collection development was positively affected and that the general wealth of the city at the time of the library's construction explains its grandiosity.

Celsus was a distinguished statesman from a long line of nobility, who stood out as one of the few (Greek) Eastern men to serve.  He held a number of titles, both political and military, including "aedium sacrarum et operum locorumque publicorum populi Romani, or curator of public works in Rome." (pg. 10)  So it is not so strange that after his death, his son chose to build a library in his honor.  As Celsus was seen as an inspirational figure to his fellow Greeks, who were living under Roman prejudice, the architecture of the library itself fittingly includes traditional features from both cultures.  (One thing I found interesting in the discussion on architecture is that there is no evidence of any staircase having been built.  So how did the librarians transport books between floors?  One theory included trapdoor and ladders!)

Overall, this article was a worthwhile read not just because of its subject matter, but almost more so because of its historical viewpoint--using a sociological lenses to deduce details out of context.

Entry #3

• Jiang, Shuyong (2007).  "Into the source and history of Chinese culture: knowledge classification in Ancient China."  Libraries & the Cultural Record, 42(1), 1-20
• A "Dig Deeper" article from Ancient Libraries
• Accessible online at http://bit.ly/2l6aU6h

As so much of the readings are based on the Western history of libraries, I was interested to read an article based on Eastern history.

It is fascinating to think that ancient Chinese libraries cataloged their materials not by subject, but by function in society.  I think on my library's experience of converting from Dewey to WordWise, and all the debate that went into determining category and sub-category 'keywords' and what belonged where.  How much debate must've gone into placing a new material into a bibliography based on societal function!  Surely each librarian would have their own opinion.  (And obviously each regime...much of the article is devoted to how the state's bibliography would change with each new emperor, or how books would be destroyed.  Notably was the first emperor of Qin, who didn't want scholars reading "the past to criticize the present." [pg. 4])  I was further amazed that after decades of creating a bibliography of six categories, it was eventually further whittled down to four!

"Li Chong’s reorganization of the hierarchy established the standard order of the Chinese classification system, with Confucian scriptures first, histories second, masters third, and collections of writings fourth."  (pg. 9)  Clearly, the order of the categories was also important, with the number reflecting the importance of the function.