From the Gallery: the LHRT Virtual Librariana Museum lhrt.news/pomona-colle... Do you have any cool library stuff you want to share with LHRT? We'd love to see it! [email protected]

ICYMI January 10th, 2025:

ICYMI January 9, 2025:

ICYMI January 3rd, 2025: History of LHRT The American Library History Round Table: The First Quarter Century lhrt.news/2025/01/03/h...

7 Libraries Set Inside UNESCO World Heritage Sites | Condé Nast Traveler And don't forget to check out our compilation of virtual tours of historic libraries!:

Final Call for Nominations: LHRT Davis Article Award LHRT's Donald G. Davis Article Award Committee is making this final call for nominations for the 2026 Davis Award. All nominations, which must include a brief statement of recommendation and a digital copy of the article, should be e-mailed to…

Published Articles about International Federation of Library Associations Personalities Renowned library historian Peter Johan Lor, former Director of the State Library in Pretoria, first National Librarian and Chief Executive Officer of the National Library of South Africa, and former Secretary…

Jeremy Dibbell on The Libraries of Early America: Bringing Historical Libraries to Life WHEN/WHERE: Fri, 01/09/2026 12:00 PM CT/1:00 PM ET. Zoom presentation free and open to all. Preregistration required via website. Would you like to attend? Click here to register. Excerpt from the Registration…

Caxton Club Journal Digitizing Back Issues A great resource for library and book history enthusiasts: The Caxton Club is digitizing back issues of its serial. For those who have not heard of this venerable group, "the Caxton Club brings together archivists, authors, binders, book artists,…

Browse Library History Publications of 2025 As we close out the year, please be sure to check out the 2025 publications in library history through the Bibliography of Library History, 1990-Present (scroll down under the search box to browse): Hats off again to Eric Novotny and his team for adding…

Associated Press Coverage of Historic Libraries…

“A Marvel of Ingenuity” — The Library’s Main Reading Room [Jane A. Hudiburg, Timeless] "In 1888, Ainsworth Rand Spofford, the sixth Librarian of Congress, detailed his vision for the public reading room in the new Congressional Library..."

Belle da Costa, the woman who concealed her origins in 1905 and ended up running New York’s most legendary library [Use Lahoz, EL PAÍS] More stories about Belle da Costa:

Behind the Scenes of Trinity College Dublin’s Old Library Redevelopment Project [Yvonne Gordon, Smithsonian]

Vatican librarian makes case for sharing knowledge, reflects on preservation, access [Livia Mazniker, Emory Wheel]

The world-renowned library inspired and created by love [IloveMCR]

7 stunning libraries housed within UNESCO World Heritage Sites | Condé Nast Traveller India

Women of Library History Check out this collection of essays on women in library history by the Feminist Task Force of the American Library Association!:

Court permanently blocks Trump’s executive order to dismantle federal agency for America’s libraries [American Library Association]

Additional Comment from Wayne A. Wiegand "Highlight of my academic career was getting a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship in 2008-9 to research a history of one of America's most ubiquitous and beloved civic institutions. The book was the result. This morning's NYT carries a story…

Comment about Restrictive Rules on Teaching Gender and Race [Wayne A. Wiegand] Thanks, Dr. Wiegand, for sending his Facebook comment about recent events at universities to the blog: "Article in this morning's NYT about Texas A&M establishing rules re:teaching about gender and race ideologies gave…

Bible described as the ‘Mona Lisa of illuminated manuscripts’ goes on display in Rome [National Catholic Reporter]

Digitizing Hidden Collections: Amplifying Unheard Voices [Council on Library and Information Resources] Check out the funded digitization projects for 2025!:

Missouri’s iSchool at ASIST The School of Information Science & Learning Technologies, Missouri’s iSchool, invites you to engage with our faculty and students at the upcoming ASIS&T Conference. First, thanks to Professor Jenny Bossaller, who served as the Papers Chair for the 2025 ASIS&T Annual…

 The Librarian’s Call: Documenting Is Resistance | Common Dreams [Rodney Freeman Jr.] "Rodney Freeman Jr. is a librarian and executive producer of the forthcoming documentary “Are You a Librarian: The Untold Story of Black Librarians.”"

Discover the Oldest Book of the Americas: A Close Look at the Astronomical Maya Codex of Mexico [Open Culture]

The Americas’ oldest book is an intricate work of Maya astronomy [Aeon Video, By the Getty Museum, Smarthistory] Photo by Felix Mittermeier on Pexels.com

Virtual Program: The Book Covers of Margaret Armstrong [The Ohio State University Libraries] "Margaret Armstrong was one of the most celebrated and prolific book cover designers of the late 19th and early 20th century, with more than 300 known designs published over her 40-year career. Madison…

History Of Libraries Seminar [Institute of English Studies | School of Advanced Study University of London] Books for Old Soldiers. The Pensioners' Library at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, 1833-1929 Jason McElligott, Marsh’s Library

American Library Association Oboler Award — seeking nominations This year ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Round Table is soliciting nominations for articles on the topic of intellectual freedom. This can include matters of ethical, political, or social concerns related to intellectual freedom. The…

Assouline’s Library Collection Will Inspire All Bibliophiles [Sadie Stein, MSN] Sadie Stein looks at the publisher Assouline's "Library Collection" which offers classic historical library accouterments for a private library such as bookends, book stands, magnifying glasses, backgammon sets and…

The Unknown Librarian Who Saved Queer History [Hugh Ryan, Bazaar] "You probably don’t know the name Paul Fasana. But the librarian was instrumental in preserving hundreds of thousands of artifacts of queer history." And check out Paul Fasana's wikipedia page at

1876 Librarians’ Conference Scrapbook [Cara Bertram, ALA Archives]

Vatican and other Catholic libraries turn to AI and robotics to digitize collections [Courtney Mares, Catholic News Agency] Photo by Javon Swaby on Pexels.com

Mobilizing Library History To Fight Censorship Here is an example of how library history can help libraries in the present...The Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship cites history in its fight against book banning: "Since 2021, we have closely followed the escalating censorship efforts and…

How Close Did We Come to Losing Beowulf Forever? [Robert Bartlett, Literary Hub]

Knorozov Broke the Maya Code: After Saving a Book from the Burning Prussian State Library [Kathleen McCook, Ebla to Ebooks]

W. Elmo Reavis: Library Bookbinder [Tiffney Sanford, Librarian, North Hollywood Amelia Earhart Regional Branch] Find out about a fascinating figure in library history in this piece by Tiffney Sanford, with lots of beautiful images and primary sources!!!:

This SC library is older than the Library of Congress. It has big plans for America’s 250th anniversary [Nicole Ziege, Georgetown Times]

Library History Database 2.0 Greetings all, About a year I shared the launch of the library history database, based on Ed Goedeken's bibliographies. Bibliography Search | Bibliography of Library History, 1990-Present Since then, the database has significantly expanded. David Lincove and I have…

A New Rare Book Sanctuary: Peter Harrington Rare Books Gallery in New York [Kathleen McCook, Ebla to Ebooks]

Letter to ALA Executive Board re: limiting Round Table ballots This letter from Patricia Schuman, former ALA President & Treasurer & ALA Honorary Member, includes history of the role of the Social Responsibilities Round Table within ALA and provides institutional history that may be of interest.…

Reminder & Update: ALA Library History Round Table (LHRT) Reads -October 30th Event Greetings, Please join us online for the next ALA Library History Round Table (LHRT) Reads event on October 30th at 7:00pm (Eastern Time). We will be discussing The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by…

Join the LHRT Board! Dear LHRT members, It is time to get our nominations together for LHRT next year. If you want to get more involved, this is your chance! We hope that many of you will consider running for office – it is a fun way to get involved nationally. As part of the Executive Committee,…

The Industrial Revolution and the Rise of Public Libraries [Connor A. Reazin] Check it out in the "Information Innovations" column!:

2026 Davis Award (Second) Call for Nominations The Library History Round Table (LHRT) of the American Library Association (ALA) invites nominations for the 2026 Donald G. Davis Article Award. The Davis Award is given every even-numbered year to recognize the best article written in English in the…

Artist Creates a 1-Centimeter Book for the Moon’s First Art Gallery. It’s Longer Than You Think [David Chiu, People]

The Beautiful Paris Library That Transformed ‘Modern’ Architecture [William O’Connor, Getting Around with William O’Connor]

Alexandria vs. Pergamon: The Ancient Battle of the Greatest Libraries [Nick Kampouris, Greekreporter.com] Also see The Libraries of Alexandria and Pergamon as Classical Models, By Gregory Nagy, Classical Inquiries, Harvard University, Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

ALA Library History Round Table (LHRT) Reads -October 30th Event Greetings, Please join us online for the next ALA Library History Round Table (LHRT) Reads event on October 30th at 7:00pm (Eastern Time). We will be discussing The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss. Advance…