YA literature listserv

For my YA class, I'm required to join the one of the ALA's YA literature listserv. This particular listserv is all about book recommendations. People read books they like and recommend them to each other, or they ask for recommendations on specific topics.

I LOVE IT!!

I've only been a subscriber one day and I already have a list of books to-read. For anyone else who might be interested to see what YA books librarians consider the best of the best, it's a free subscription: http://lists.ala.org/sympa/info/yalsa-bk

Notes from this week's lecture on public libraries

I. A LOOK AT THE ORIGINS OF THE U.S.PUBLIC LIBRARY MOVEMENT.

Some major developments in the founding of U.S. public libraries:

A. Eighteenth century. There was no system of public libraries in the U.S. in the 18th century, but there were two important precursors:

1. In 1731, Benjamin Franklin and friends created the first library in the U.S.: the Library Company of Philadelphia. It was a subscription library.

This is particularly ironic considering the fact that Philadelphia just announced the closure of all its public libraries. Benjamin Franklin must be spinning in his grave.

2. In 1790, Benjamin Franklin donated a collection of 116 books to the town of Franklin, Massachusetts. This collection became the first U.S. public library.

B. Nineteenth century. Public libraries were established as a basic part of the American societal structure:

1. In 1833, the first tax-supported free public library was founded in Peterborough, New Hampshire.

2. In 1854, the Boston Public Library opened as the first major U.S. city public library.

3. In 1876 the American Library Association (ALA) began. Library Journal also began publication that same year.

4. Melville Dewey founded the country's first library school at Columbia University in 1887.

5. Pratt University opened the second U.S. library school in 1890.

6. The Free Library of Philadelphia, first located in three rooms in City Hall, opened in 1894.

7. In 1895, the New York Public Library opened.

8. 1889 Andrew Carnegie donated roughly $41 million for the construction of more than 1,600 library buildings across the country as social improvement for "the best and most aspiring poor."

Caldwell had a Carnegie library. The building is now used for the school district offices, but it still has "Carnegie Library" carved in the stone above the door.

9. 1892 – Drexel University began offering a "Certificate in Library Science." This makes it the third library program to begin in the United States and the second oldest still in operation. (The Pratt program is also still operating.)

Of course, being the history nerd I am, this makes me even prouder to attend Drexel (which has just moved up in the US News and World Repot rankings to #9. I'm at a top ten school! Not that I'm bragging. Well, ok, I'm bragging. I've probably already told you this :) I'll tell anyone who will listen, lol!

10. By the turn of the 20th century, most major American cities had public libraries