Not free, not for all : public libraries in the age of Jim Crow / Cheryl Knott.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Knott, Cheryl, 1954- author.

Contributor:

Lachs-Adler Family Endowed Fund for Collection Development.

Series:

Studies in print culture and the history of the book

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Americans and libraries--Southern States--History--20th century.

African Americans and libraries.

Public libraries--Social aspects--United States.

Public libraries.

African Americans--Books and reading--History--20th century.

African Americans.

African Americans--Southern States--History--20th century.

Carnegie libraries--United States--History--20th century.

Carnegie libraries.

Library architecture--United States--History--20th century.

Library architecture.

Architecture and society--United States--History--20th century.

Architecture and society.

African Americans--Books and reading.

Public libraries--Social aspects.

History.

Southern States.

United States.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

x, 312 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press, [2015]

Summary:

Americans tend to imagine their public libraries as time-honored advocates of equitable access to information for all. Through much of the twentieth century, however, many black Americans were denied access to public libraries or allowed admittance only to separate and smaller buildings and collections. While scholars have examined and continue to uncover the history of school segregation, there has been much less research published on the segregation of public libraries in the Jim Crow South. In fact, much of the writing on public library history has failed to note these racial exclusions. In Not Free, Not for All, Cheryl Knott traces the establishment, growth, and eventual demise of separate public libraries for African Americans in the South, disrupting the popular image of the American public library as historically welcoming readers from all walks of life. Book jacket.

Contents:

The culture of print in a context of racism

Carnegie public libraries for African Americans

Solidifying segregation

Faltering systems

Change and continuity

Erecting libraries, constructing race

Books for black readers

Reading the race-based library

Opening access.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Lachs-Adler Family Endowed Fund for Collection Development.

ISBN:

1625341784

9781625341778

1625341776

OCLC:

910596088

Publisher Number:

99966336653