Main entry:

Van Slyck, Abigail Ayres.

Title & Author:

Free to all : Carnegie libraries & American culture, 1890-1920 / Abigail A. Van Slyck.

Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1995.

Description:

xxvii, 276 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-270) and index.
1. Giving: The Reform of American Library Philanthropy. Librarians vs. Architects. Andrew Carnegie Enters the Philanthropic Game. Carnegie's Reform of American Philanthropy. Defining "The Modern Library Idea". Designing the Modern Library. Carnegie's Reform of American Library Architecture. Redefining the Nature of Library Use -- 2. Making: The Marketing of Library Design. The Culture of Professionalism. The Library Bureau and the Modern Library. The Impact of the Carnegie Library Program -- 3. Taking: Libraries and Cultural Politics, Part I. Cultural Politics in Larger Cities. The Impact of the Carnegie Library Program. Building the Central Library. Building Branch Libraries -- 4. Taking: Libraries and Cultural Politics, Part II. Cultural Politics in Smaller Towns. Carnegie's Reception in Small-Town America. Male and Female Visions of the Library. The Temple in the Park -- 5. Working: The Feminization of Librarianship. Engendering American Librarianship. Transcending the Limits of the Gendered Work Station -- 6. Reading: The Experiences of Children as Library Users. Coming of Age in the Small-town Library. Claiming New Space in Urban Branches.

Summary:

Familiar landmarks in hundreds of American towns, Carnegie libraries have shaped the public library experience of generations of Americans and today seen far from controversial. In Free to All, however, Abigail Van Slyck shows that the classical facades and symmetrical plans of these buildings often mask the complex and contentious circumstances of their construction and use.
Free to All is the first comprehensive social and architectural history of the Carnegie library phenomenon, an unprecedented program of philanthropy that helped erect over 1600 public library buildings in the United States. Van Slyck skillfully untangles the overlapping and conflicting motives of the many people involved in erecting, staffing, and using the libraries: Andrew Carnegie himself; small-town civic boosters avid for new investment; metropolitan library trustees anxious to maintain the elite character of urban libraries; architects reacting to increased professional specialization; a growing number of female librarians; and the children and adults, frequently immigrants, who came to borrow books.--From publisher description.

Resources:
Table of contents
Book review (H-Net)
Publisher description

ISBN:

0226850315 (cloth ; alk. paper)
9780226850313 (cloth ; alk. paper)
0226850323
9780226850320

Subject:

Library architecture United States History 19th century.
Library architecture United States History 20th century.
Public libraries Social aspects United States.
Architecture and society United States History 19th century.
Architecture and society United States History 20th century.
Carnegie libraries United States History 19th century.
Carnegie libraries United States History 20th century.
Bibliothèques États-Unis 19e siècle Architecture Histoire.
Bibliothèques États-Unis 20e siècle Architecture Histoire.
Bibliothèques publiques États-Unis Aspect social.
Architecture et société États-Unis Histoire 19e siècle.
Architecture et société États-Unis Histoire 20e siècle.
Architecture des bibliothèques États-Unis Histoire 19e siècle.
Architecture des bibliothèques États-Unis Histoire 20e siècle.
Bibliothèques publiques Aspect social États-Unis.
Bibliothèques Carnegie États-Unis Histoire 19e siècle.
Bibliothèques Carnegie États-Unis Histoire 20e siècle.
ARCHITECTURE Buildings Public, Commercial & Industrial.
ARCHITECTURE History.
HISTORY Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies)
Architecture and society.
Carnegie libraries.
Civilization.
Library architecture.
Public libraries Social aspects.
Openbare bibliotheken.
Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Bouwkunst.
United States Civilization 1865-1918.
États-Unis Civilisation 1865-1918.
United States.
Library architecture -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Library architecture -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Public libraries -- Social aspects -- United States
Architecture and society -- United States -- History -- 19th century
Architecture and society -- United States -- History -- 20th century
United States -- Civilization -- 1865-1918

Form/genre:

History.

Added entries:

Carnegie libraries and American culture

Holdings:

Location: Library main 81284
Call No.: ID Z679.2.U5 V3; ID:95-B2646
Status: Available