Large, urban institutions are well represented in
American public library history, butthe stories of libraries in small towns or in rural
areas are not as well represented. During the
twentieth century, local citizens in six small Moore
County, North Carolina towns ( small here
defined as towns having less than five thousand
residents) established and maintained local
public libraries. Some of the libraries failed over
time, some succeeded, but all of them went
through a process of finding their place in their
community and governmental environments,
environments that were themselves changing with the
times. Using newspaper articles,
augmented with interviews and direct observation,
this is a study of those libraries and the
people who created them in the context of their
times and circumstances, and in the context
of how they were and are viewed by the profession of
librarianship.
American public library history, butthe stories of libraries in small towns or in rural
areas are not as well represented. During the
twentieth century, local citizens in six small Moore
County, North Carolina towns ( small here
defined as towns having less than five thousand
residents) established and maintained local
public libraries. Some of the libraries failed over
time, some succeeded, but all of them went
through a process of finding their place in their
community and governmental environments,
environments that were themselves changing with the
times. Using newspaper articles,
augmented with interviews and direct observation,
this is a study of those libraries and the
people who created them in the context of their
times and circumstances, and in the context
of how they were and are viewed by the profession of
librarianship.