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Library History Timeline

A wiki experiment by the UW-Madison SLIS "History of American Librarianship" class.

Browse by decade using these links:

Browse by library type using these links:

Public Libraries

Academic or Research Libraries

School Libraries or Media Centers

Special or Corporate Libraries

Digital Libraries

Browse by library topic using these links:

Libraries and education

Libraries and democracy

Libraries and intellectual freedom

Libraries and war

Libraries and civil rights

Libraries and popular culture

Libraries and government

Please note: As in any chronology or history, the elements we choose to include in this timeline each make an implicit statement about what historical processes, contexts, moments, and actors we value today — who and what we feel are important to remember and represent as the social practices of librarianship continue into the 21st century.

For more information on our course, please visit our web-based syllabus or our collaborative weblog.

Credits

Faculty adviser: Greg Downey

Student participants: Deborah Copperud, Eileen Harrington, Kelly Giles, Alycia Sellie, Anne Rauh, Nancy Scibelli, Jennifer Gile