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American Libraries 1730-1950
Although new technologies appear poised to alter it, the library remains a powerful site for discovery, and its form is still determined by the geometry of the book and the architectural spaces devised to store and display it. American Libraries provides a history and panorama of these much-loved structures, inside and out, encompassing the small personal collection, the vast university library, and everything in between.
Through 500 photographs and plans selected from the encyclopedic collections of the Library of Congress, Kenneth Breisch traces the development of libraries in the United States, from roots in such iconic examples as the British Library and Paris’s Bibliotheque-Ste.-Genevieve to institutions imbued with their own American mythology. Starting with the private collections of wealthy merchants and landowners during the eighteenth century, the book looks at the Library of Congress, large and small public libraries, and the Carnegie libraries, and it ends with a glimpse of modern masterworks.
Through 500 photographs and plans selected from the encyclopedic collections of the Library of Congress, Kenneth Breisch traces the development of libraries in the United States, from roots in such iconic examples as the British Library and Paris’s Bibliotheque-Ste.-Genevieve to institutions imbued with their own American mythology. Starting with the private collections of wealthy merchants and landowners during the eighteenth century, the book looks at the Library of Congress, large and small public libraries, and the Carnegie libraries, and it ends with a glimpse of modern masterworks.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published September 5, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 23, 2017
This book serves its mission of showcasing the Library of Congress photo collection of libraries. The author is an architect who has written about the Los Angeles Public Library and the libraries of Henry Hudson Richardson.
The photos are almost all black and white. There are a lot of them. There are facades, interiors, schematics and some depictions of readers and librarians. They are arranged by type of library, private, academic, small public, large urban, etc. with sections within them on styles, architects and other topics such as alcoves and shelving. The book concludes with a chapter on the “Carnegie Era” and an Afterword on Post WWII.
Information is conveyed mostly in the labeling of the photos, but each chapter and sub-chapter have short introductions. The most informative chapter was that on the Library of Congress. Its evolution is summarized in photos and short commentary.
There is a lot that is off topic such as starting with pre-1730 libraries in Europe. Throughout there are post 1950 libraries. For instance, there are 2 pages on Presidential Libraries; one is LBJ’s (1967-1971). The façade of the Clinton Library appears on p.26 under Open Planning which is a post-1950 concept and is not demonstrated by the photo of the Clinton Library’s façade. In the Post-World War II section, most libraries shown are post-1950.
The basic assembly of the book made it difficult to use. A few examples:
- the first photo (like many) in Chapter 1 is labeled: “Opposite 1-007 p. 36. “1-007” is the Library of Congress location number, which is not the first thing the reader wants to know. You have flip ahead to see that the photo is a section of the Edwin John Beinecke (private) library. Why not just label it?
- The Index is weak. The Troy Public Library (NY) is under Hart Memorial Library, a seldom used name. The same was true for the Exeter library, found under Phillips Academy. I’m sure there were more like this; I saw no “See” references.
- The light grey text on glossy paper is not easy to read through the glare.
The book is, essentially, a photo album. While few read text in books like this, of those that do, few will stay with it. It does not bring this collection alive. One example in the Post World War II chapter. Yale’s Beinecke and Phillips Exeter’s Louis Khan designed library each have a (dull) paragraph in the intro. Neither annotation conveys the extraordinary features of these landmark buildings.
This book is a missed opportunity.
The photos are almost all black and white. There are a lot of them. There are facades, interiors, schematics and some depictions of readers and librarians. They are arranged by type of library, private, academic, small public, large urban, etc. with sections within them on styles, architects and other topics such as alcoves and shelving. The book concludes with a chapter on the “Carnegie Era” and an Afterword on Post WWII.
Information is conveyed mostly in the labeling of the photos, but each chapter and sub-chapter have short introductions. The most informative chapter was that on the Library of Congress. Its evolution is summarized in photos and short commentary.
There is a lot that is off topic such as starting with pre-1730 libraries in Europe. Throughout there are post 1950 libraries. For instance, there are 2 pages on Presidential Libraries; one is LBJ’s (1967-1971). The façade of the Clinton Library appears on p.26 under Open Planning which is a post-1950 concept and is not demonstrated by the photo of the Clinton Library’s façade. In the Post-World War II section, most libraries shown are post-1950.
The basic assembly of the book made it difficult to use. A few examples:
- the first photo (like many) in Chapter 1 is labeled: “Opposite 1-007 p. 36. “1-007” is the Library of Congress location number, which is not the first thing the reader wants to know. You have flip ahead to see that the photo is a section of the Edwin John Beinecke (private) library. Why not just label it?
- The Index is weak. The Troy Public Library (NY) is under Hart Memorial Library, a seldom used name. The same was true for the Exeter library, found under Phillips Academy. I’m sure there were more like this; I saw no “See” references.
- The light grey text on glossy paper is not easy to read through the glare.
The book is, essentially, a photo album. While few read text in books like this, of those that do, few will stay with it. It does not bring this collection alive. One example in the Post World War II chapter. Yale’s Beinecke and Phillips Exeter’s Louis Khan designed library each have a (dull) paragraph in the intro. Neither annotation conveys the extraordinary features of these landmark buildings.
This book is a missed opportunity.
January 14, 2018
If you are really into historic American library architecture and dead American library architects, this book is for you. It's mostly black-and-white pictures (and to make things tricky, not all captions are located near the pictures) with some drawings and very little text. What text exists is difficult to get through as it's bombarded by architect names and parenthesised years. I could not keep track of who did what where because parenthesised years behind just about every name throws off my reading rhythm.
It does have a few tidbits of info I found useful such as when the ALA was formed, when and where municipalities were first able to collect taxes to support public libraries, why the Library of Congress is so big, Andrew Carnegie's extensive philanthropic involvement in building new libraries, and which historic libraries are built in which architectural styles. I also enjoyed ye olde timey pictures of ye olde timey architecture, especially those in the Romanesque style.
Even though this book overall was a bit boring, I would really like to flip through the pictures of a sequel that covers American libraries 1950-present because I do have a mild interest in American library architecture.
It does have a few tidbits of info I found useful such as when the ALA was formed, when and where municipalities were first able to collect taxes to support public libraries, why the Library of Congress is so big, Andrew Carnegie's extensive philanthropic involvement in building new libraries, and which historic libraries are built in which architectural styles. I also enjoyed ye olde timey pictures of ye olde timey architecture, especially those in the Romanesque style.
Even though this book overall was a bit boring, I would really like to flip through the pictures of a sequel that covers American libraries 1950-present because I do have a mild interest in American library architecture.
April 28, 2018
I was amused to see this sitting on the new book shelf at my local public library - no line waiting to check this out, alas (says a librarian).
This is find for what it is, a historical look at the design and architecture of American public and to some extent academic libraries up to 1950. There is also quite a bit of detailed description of the design and building of the Library of Congress Jefferson building. For me, things get more interesting later, but the background on the different trends in how design dovetailed with service and collecting philosophies for large urban libraries is interesting.
There are many photographs, lithographs and drawings drawn from the Library of Congress collections. Some are more recent photographs that are in the public domain.
This is find for what it is, a historical look at the design and architecture of American public and to some extent academic libraries up to 1950. There is also quite a bit of detailed description of the design and building of the Library of Congress Jefferson building. For me, things get more interesting later, but the background on the different trends in how design dovetailed with service and collecting philosophies for large urban libraries is interesting.
There are many photographs, lithographs and drawings drawn from the Library of Congress collections. Some are more recent photographs that are in the public domain.
July 9, 2019
The photos are beautiful—it makes me want to visit all of the world's gorgeous libraries. I'm a bibliophile and love libraries—their style, the walls of books, the knowledge contained therein, the old book smell. It's pretty neat that I live in the city that’s home to one of the country's iconic libraries. I've visited a fair number of the New England libraries depicted, which is also pretty neat.
The text is pretty dry, so I really just skimmed it. I'm not terribly interested in architecture and who built what, but rather what's contained in those buildings. I wish there had been more information on the books themselves and how they made that library special.
The text is pretty dry, so I really just skimmed it. I'm not terribly interested in architecture and who built what, but rather what's contained in those buildings. I wish there had been more information on the books themselves and how they made that library special.
March 18, 2018
This is primarily a picture book of libraries, but the chapter introductions and captions are extensive and provide a great deal of information about the evolution of library design. People who appreciate good libraries will enjoy perusing this book.
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April 27, 2018727.80973 B8353 2017
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews