Entry #18

• Croteau, Jeffrey.  (2006)  "Yet more American circulating libraries: a preliminary checklist of Brooklyn (New York) circulating libraries."  Library History, 22 (3), 171-180.
• A "Dig Deeper" article from Modern Libraries
• Accessible online at http://bit.ly/2mnqdMX

At first, I thought this would just be a list of public libraries in Brooklyn, with a discussion of what we could then infer about society (social classes, immigration), from them.

My mistake was thinking that "circulating" libraries were the same as public libraries.  They were more along the line of subscription libraries, in that users would pay a fee to check out books for a set amount of time.  Brooklyn is described "a strongly literate community" in the 19th century and so had many non-profit libraries, but those often took "a civic or moral orientation" and catered to white, upper-class men.  The circulating libraries, while eventually declining, held on for the first half of the 19th century by clever marketing strategies.  They were set up in commercial areas, which helped considered how heavily they advertised to women (who were not as welcome in the public libraries).  Circulating libraries were also willing to stock whatever would get people in the door...which lead to criticism that they were "‘unabashed[ly] trafficking in ‘low’ or ‘unfit’ novels to ‘young’ and ‘impressionable’ females’."  Which an allegation that would be leveled at all libraries, eventually.

I wonder if these circulating libraries had an impact on public libraries, in widening their collections to draw in the users who weren't coming in but instead paying for the circulating libraries.  Croteau early on in the article bemoans the lack of research in this area, but that is something I would be interested in digging into.