To Every Book Its Reader

8/6/2019 To Every Book Its Reader

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To Every Book Its Reader:

Racial Segregation and the American Library Association

Jane Davis

April 19, 2008

HIST 5760


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In 1931, an Indian mathematician turned librarian wrote The Five Laws of Library

Science . S. R. Ranganathan would eventually be one of the most influential librarians of the

twentieth century. The American Library Association (ALA) and its leaders were deeply

influenced by Ranganathans five laws, using the simple principles as a foundation for

librarianship and the goals of the profession. Ranganathan addressed issues of access,

intellectual freedom, technology, and customer service with his laws. The second and third laws,

Every Reader his or her book and Every Book its Reader, establish a view of librarianship

that strongly supports equal access to all information and the intellectual freedom to use that

information. 1 While not a strong influence on library education until the late 1950s,

Ranganathans five laws did influence the development of a professional standard am ong

American librarians. In addition to the Library Bill of Rights, the professional standards of

librarians supported a freedom of access to information and a guarantee from censorship based

on intellectual content. The ideas that education was beneficial to the citizens of a republic and

every individual has a right to education were not new to library science. Librarians filled their

professional journals with discussions of equality of access and providing redeeming literature

and information to all citizens. But until the early 1960s, segregation is rarely mentioned. The

notion that segregation of library service, or the denial of service to African-Americans based on

segregation laws did not seem to go contrary to the professional ideals of the ALA. While some

librarians do mention the cognitive disconnect between a profession that promotes the ideals of

equality and freedom of access and a practice that prevented large numbers of Americans from

library and information access, the general treatment of racial segregation by the professional

1 S. R. Ranganathan, The Five Laws of Library Science (1931): 75


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organizations is one of appeasement and concessions. Unable or unwilling to challenge the

deeply entrenched system of segregation, librarians instead focused on how to best provide

access to African-Americans within the existing social framework.

Despite librarians professional dedication to intellectual freedom and equality of access,

early discussion of segregation in professional journals and publications is limited to works

focusing on the special challenges of providing library service to African-Americans. While

there were a few discussions of African-Americans in the library, the roundtable discussions at

the annual conference for the American Library Association (ALA) were focused solely on

providing services to African-Americans through existing outlets. Throughout the 1920s the

ALA Work with Negros Roundtable met and discussed the relative scarcity of library services to

African Americans, the lack of employment for African-American librarians, and the lack of

involvement of the African-American community in governance of libraries set aside to serve

them. 2 These discussions of the ALA Roundtable and efforts to encourage greater participation

of African-Americans in the library profession were mere blips on the radar of most librarians.

In fact, the professional literature is all but silent on issues of segregation until 1936. In January

of 1936 the ALA chose the city of Richmond, Virginia for the site of the annual convention.

ALA annual conferences had been previously held in Southern segregated cities without

discussion by library professionals; however Richmond was to be different. In the months

before the July convention, black librarians were sent a semi -official letter advising of

conditions to expect in Richmond due to the traditional position of the South in respect to

2 Klaus Musmann, "The Ugly Side of Librarianship: Segregation in Library Services From 1900-

1950," Untold Stories: Civil Rights, Libraries and Black Librarianship (1998):78-92.


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mixed meetings. 3 African- American librarians were advised they could not obtain rooms and

meals at the hotels hosting the conference, but they may use the same entra nce as the white

delegates. Additionally, African-American librarians would not be able to attend any sessions or

meetings where food was served, but could attend meetings followed by meals provided they do

not participate in the meals. 4

Word of the pending segregation at a national conference began to spread among library

circles, but it was not addressed by professional publications until May. Stanley Kunitz, the

editor of the more liberal leaning Wilson Library Bulletin , used his editorial privileges to address

the issue of segregation at a national conference. Kunitz railed against the letter received by

African- American libraries and the conditions that preceded it. Kunitz asserted an association

of professional men and women cannot go into [a] convention part white and part black without

doing violence to the best thought and highest hope of our national life. 5 Additionally, he urged

all librarians to pressure their professional organization to address the issue of segregation at

national conventions and encourage the ALA leadership to consider denying conventions to

cities that continued to enforce segregation.

After Kunitzs impassioned plea, the more conservative Library Journal called for a

discussion of the segregation issue at Richmond. In a letter in the Readers Forum, Edith N.

3 Stanley Kunitz, "Spectre at Richmond," Wilson Library Bulletin 10, (May 1936): 592.

4 Ibid., 592.

5 Ibid., 592.


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Snow echoed Kunitzs outrage and dismay that the professional organization had seemed to have

abandoned the principles of fairness it should be dedicated to. 6 Following Snows letter,

librarians from across the nation wrote to Library Journal to protest the segregation of black

librarians at the conference. Many called on the ALA to rectify the situation and felt that

segregation at a national conference of peers was a betrayal of the professions core values ,

shameful and degrading to all librarians, and librarians must maintain libraries, and all their

ways, as the most democratic and human institutions in the world. 7 After the convention, J.

Cunningham, a Southern librarian, wrote a letter to present the other side of segregation at the

convention. Citing the liberal provisions made in Richmond, such as allowing mixed meetings

where no food was served and a central entrance for all, Cunningham advocated that no Negro

attending a meeting in Richmond w ould expect different treatment. Cunningham also stated

that the very idea that the custom of segregation as undemocratic and contrary to the spirit of

the ALA was humorous. 8

The response to Cunningham was deafening, at least for librarians. Over the next three months,

Library Journal published nine further letters decrying Cunninghams position on segregation at

the national conference. Among them, an African-American librarian, Wallace Van Jackson was

6 Edith N. Snow, "Negro Segregation." letter to the editor in Library Journal 61(May 1936):510.

7 Beatrice Winser, "Negro Segregation," letter to the editor in Library Journal 61, (June 1936):

427, Frederick A. Blossom, "Negro Segregation," letter to the editor in Library Journal 61,

(June 1936):427

8J. Cunningham, "Negro Segregation," letter to the editor in Library Journal 61, (July 1936)


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deeply frustrated by Cunninghams assertion th at black librarians would expect no better

treatment than they received at Richmond. Jackson goes on to refute the idea that segregation is

representative of any sort of democratic ideal or the spirit of the ALA.

It is a sad commentary upon its members hip if the ALA condones

such a practice [of segregation]. We do not believe that this public

spirited organization, which is dedicated to the ideal of making

people better through the printed word, will advocate a policy of

discrimination against the librarians who are trying to help usher in

the enlightened age. We know that the South needs the ALA but

we do not believe that the ALA needs the South to the extent that

the association will accept the insulting provisions offered their

Negro members 9

Oth er librarians supported Jacksons statements in equally eloquent letters, admonishing the

ALA for submitting African-American librarians to the provisions of segregation and requesting

that the ALA consider restricting its meetings to cities that would welcome all members on equal

footing. Following the protest of so many members in such a public setting, the ALA created the

Committee on Racial Discrimination to examine the issue of segregation at conferences and to

draft a statement for the association in response to the planning of future conferences. In

December of 1936, the Committee presented a report to the ALA Council which stated: In all

9 Wallace Van Jackson, "Negro Segregation," letter to the editor in Library Journal 61, (August

1936):563.


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rooms and halls assigned to the American Library Association hereafter for use in connection

with its conference or otherwise under its control, all members shall be admitted upon terms of

full equality. 10

Despite the outcry about segregation at the conference in Richmond, segregation

remained a fact for libraries throughout the nation either through legal measures in the South or

by more informal residential segregation in the North. The issue at Richmond was not

segregation, but the insult to librarians of color. The letters of outrage did not address the

problem of segregated public and academic libraries and while no annual conference was held in

the South until 1956, the discussion of integrated library service to all patrons was delayed much

longer. In the years following Richmond, the professional publications of librarians largely

ignored the issue of segregation. Those articles and theses addressing the problem were few and

focused on the provision of separate but equal facilities to African-Americans within the existing

framework of segregation. The interest in discussing and encouraging equal access to the

professional library organizations was shaped and framed within the context of segregation, as

was any discussion of providing library services to African-Americans. 11

In 1941, two works on library service to African-Americans were published. One by

Eliza Atkins Gleason was a monographic version of her PhD dissertation for the University of

Chicago library school. Gleason was the first African-American to receive a doctorate in Library

10 "Report of the Committee on Racial Discrimination." ALA Bulletin 31(1937):37

11 Rosemary Ruhig Du Mont, "Race in American Librarianship: Attitudes of the Library

Profession," Journal of Library History 21, no. 3 (Summer 1986) 498.


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Science in the United States. Dr. Gleasons seminal work The Southern Negro and the Public

Library focused on issues of poor pay for African-American librarians as well as limited and

unequal funding for African-American libraries. Statistics showed that at the time, forty-four

percent of the white population of the South was served by public libraries while only twenty-

one percent of African-Americans were provided library services in the South. While Gleason

directly advocates an increase in African-American library schools and the establishment of

solely African-American libraries as a solution, the idea of integration of library services is not

mentioned. 12

Also published in 1941, Ernest I. Millers article Library Service for Negroes in

Tennessee paints a bleak picture of library service to African -Americans in Tennessee. While

Tennessee at the time ranked higher than some neighboring states in service, Miller asserts the

statistic is not indicative of a highly developed public library system in Tennessee, merely the

refection of exceedingly low service thr oughout the region. Twenty-four percent of African-

Americans in Tennessee in 1930 lived in counties with no library service. Cities in Tennessee

with higher than average populations of African-Americans did do a better job of providing

library service than their rural counterparts, however the number of volumes available to black

library patrons were significantly less than those available to white patrons in the same cities. In

Memphis, African-Americans were only provided 15.6 volumes per 100 citizens while whites

were provided with 84.6 volumes per 100. Miller called for an overall improvement in library

12Eliza Atkins Gleason, The Southern Negro and the Public Library (Chicago: Unversity of

Chicago Press, 1941.)


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service throughout the state and cautioned readers to understand that a caste system was in

place in the distribution of library funding. But Miller also urged his readers to understand that

library service provided to white patrons is not the type best suited to colored people. 13

Both Miller and Gleason reflect the pervasive attitude of librarians and the professional

organization towards segregation in libraries during the 1930s and 1940s. Unconcerned with the

rightness of segregation, librarians instead focused on the provision of specialized services to

African-American communities and increasing the training and educational access for African-

American librarians. Miller points out that library service to African-Americans should focus

more strongly on areas of adult education and other works that would allow African-Americans

to supplement the present low income. While Miller decries the caste distinctions within the

profession that excluded black librarians from professional library meetings, he does frame

solutions within the restrictions of segregations. In those areas with limited collections and

meager funds to provide library service to African- Americans, Miller suggests setting aside one

night a week in the main library as Negro night. 14 This would allow black patrons access to the

library collection without forcing the hand of segregationists.

Neither work by Gleason or Miller was published in the standard professional literature,

although Gleasons work was published by an academic press closely associated with library

literature. Millers work appeared in The Journal of Negro Education and was largely not

13 Ernest Miller, "Library Service for Negroes in Tennessee," Journal of Negro Education 10, no.

4 (October 1941): 642.

14 Ibid., 643.


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accessible to most librarians unless they made specific efforts to be concerned with African-

American education and library service. The ALA, with the exception of the statement on

segregation of conferences, largely ignored issues of segregation and the plight of African-

American library patrons until the 1960s.

During the 1950s the librarians response to segregation was gradually shifting, initially

focusing on integration of the professional organizations and then slowly moving into a slightly

more activist position on racial segregation. The idea of integration of professional library

organizations was discussed by both the national organization and the smaller regional

organizations with varying results. In 1954, the ALA Membership Meeting ratified a revised

version of the ALA bylaws to institute integration of the professional organization in a

roundabout way. The statement clearly restricted regional organizations to one chapter per

state, province or territory. 15 This restriction forced the Southern state chapters to integrate

and form a new association from the previously segregated associations in the area or fall out of

existence. The two regional associations, Southeastern Library Association (SELA) and the

Southwestern Library Association were already integrated, with SELA effectively holding

integrated conferences in the South. SELAs membership addressed the segregation issue by

giving up their banquet to comply with segregation laws. 16 Other state organizations integrated

despite segregation laws as well, the Virginia Library Association chose to hold their meetings in

15 ALA and the Segregation Issue, ALA Bulletin 55 (1961): 465.

16 Kayla Barrett and Barbara Bishop. Integration and the Alabama Library Association: Not So

Black and White. Libraries and Culture . 33, no. 2(Spring 1998): 154.


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churches to avoid breaking the law. Only two Southern states, Alabama and Georgia, did not

integrate and therefore had no official ALA chapter within the state. The Alabama Library

Association had discussed integration in the early 1950s in a series of meetings, and even had an

integrated meeting to discuss the impact of a bi-racial association; however in the face of strong

resistance by some white librarians and the overwhelming difficulty of navigating the

segregation laws, the Alabama Library Association remained segregated until 1964. 17

Librarians were not completely silent on the subject of integration during the 1950s

despite the lack of professional publications or statements on the subject. Individual librarians

began to slowly assert a more activist approach to racial segregation with mainly negative

consequences. Ruth W. Brown, a librarian in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, was fired from her

position in February 1950. On the surface, Brown was let go because she was accused of

circulating subversive and Communist leaning magazines like The Nation and The New

Republic . But the surface charges were a mere mask for the displeasure city officials felt for

Browns work on integration. At t he time of her dismissal, Bartlesville Public Library was

completely integrated. According to Brown, the fact that Negroes sat where they pleased,

browsed where they pleased and whites of the community had no recourse was the real

reason behind her firing. 18 Despite the support of her library board and the work of the ALAs

17 Kayla Barrett and Barbara Bishop. Integrati on and the Alabama Library Association: Not So

Black and White. Libraries and Culture . 33, no. 2(Spring 1998): 157-158.

18 Ruth Brown. Remember Bartlesville: Segregation in Libraries as LJ Readers See It. Library

Journal 86 (15 February 1961): 730


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Intellectual Freedom Committee, Brown was unable to keep her position and the entire library

board was ousted. Although the ALA Council passed a resolution condemning her firing at the

1951 Midwinter Conference, it came too late to be of much good. 19 Browns case came to

national attention in the library publications, however, it was presented as an issue of censorship

rather than integration by both the ALA Bulletin and Library Journal.

One library addressed the segregation issue more quietly and with more moderate results.

The Houston Public Library changed its policy of racial segregation in 1953, one full year before

the Brown v. Board of Education decision and with minimal publicity and controversy. After his

election in 1953, Mayor Roy M. Hofheinz attended a library board meeting and urged the board

to desegregate Houstons public library system. He also advised the board to institute integration

policies without alerting the media or the NAACP. Within a very short time, the library board

had outlined the path to desegregation. Library Director Harriet Reynolds suggested an

incremental approach to integration, starting with allowing black adults to use the central

librarys adult collection and reading room. By August 21, 1953, all adult library facilities and

19 Louise S. Robbins. "Champions of a Cause: American Libraries and the Library Bill of Rights

in the 1950s." Library Trends 45, no. 1(Summer 1996): 28-50; Louise S. Robbins. The Dismissal

of Miss Ruth Brown: Civil Rights, Censorship and the American Library . Norman, Okla:

University of Oklahoma Press, 2000; Louise S. Robbins. "Anti -Communism, Racism and

Censorship in the McCarthy Era: the Case of Ruth W. Brown and the Bartlesville Public

Library." Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 35, no. 4( Fall 1994): 331-

334.


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collections were available to Houstons African -American community through the central library

branch. The lack of publicity made the increased usage of the collection by black patrons a small

possibility; in fact, by the end of 1953 fewer than fifty African-Americans had registered to

borrow books at the central library. 20 Despite the integration of the central library, the Carnegie

Colored Library of Houston continued to operate and provide services for the African-American

community of Houston until well into the 1960s. The members of the African-American

community were largely unaware of the integration policy at the public library and continued to

use the black only system for most of the 1950s. The integration at Houston was merely a

surface integration and the limited publicity and public knowledge of the plan reduced both the

conflict from white segregationists and the ability of African-Americans to know they were

allowed to use the central library.

Other libraries throughout the South were integrated as well. Louisville Public Library

was integrated in 1948 after continued public urging of the African-American community. 21

Jacksonville and Miami were integrated at the main branch by 1954, again, mainly due to

pressure from the local African-American community. Some libraries in the South integrated

due to financial considerations, Chattanooga, Tennessee integrated the main public library in

1949 (although with segregated bathrooms) because the board felt it was too cost prohibitive to

provide exceptional service to both the black and white communities. Additionally, the

20 Cheryl Knott Malone. "Unannounced and Unexpected: The Desegregation of Houston Public

Library in the Early 1950s." Library Trends 55, no. 3(Winter 2007): 669-670.

21 L. D. Reddick. Where Can a Southern Negro Read a Book? New South 9 (January 1954): 9.


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Chattanooga Library Board felt that denying a service publicly funded by taxpayer monies was

illegal and unsupportable. In support of the decision the Chattanooga Observer stated, The

South is beginning to realize that justice know no color line and that since the public library is

supported and maintained by all the taxpayersall of the ci tizens regardless of color should

share equally in the services offered. 22 With the exception of Chattanooga, the few integrated

libraries in the South were not integrated by the librarians, but rather they were integrated by the

will of the community. Librarians continued to, in most part, be limited in their activism by the

restrictions of the community. Those that did publicly profess views that were contrary to the

ruling idea of segregation often paid a great price.

During the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a local white librarian, Juliette Hampton Morgan

exposed herself to hostility, torment and abuse by the white citizens of Montgomery due to a

letter to the editor supporting the boycott. Morgans December 1955 letter to the Montgomery

Advisor lauded praise upon the boycotters and, much to the dismay of the white population of

Montgomery, asserted that the strike would make history and Montgomery would be forever

associated with the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement. Unfortunately Morgans opinion was

met with harassment and suffering. Whites, particularly children, threw rocks at her home,

taunted her on walk to work, played cruel tricks on her at the library and subjected her to

harassing phone calls. Finally, she took a leave of absence from her job at the library due to

extreme pressure from segregationists seeking her dismissal. Her death on July 17, 1957 shortly

after her resignation was speculated to have been a suicide as a result of the harassment and

22 L. D. Reddick. Where Can a Southern Negro Read a Book?:11


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hostile reaction to her support of the boycott. However, the official cause of death was a heart

attack. Morgans sudden death and response of local whites to her letter cast a pall over white

involvement in the desegregation movement. No white public librarian spoke out for the rights

of African-Americans in Alabama for the remainder of the movement. 23

Other librarians were faced dismissal from their positions for supporting literature that, in

the minds of segregationists, promoted integration. Emily Wheelcock Reed came under fire in

1959 by S tate Senator E. O. Eddins for using the states library agency to disseminate books

espousing racial integration and communism to Alabamas public libraries. 24 At the heart of the

controversy was the book Rabbits Wedding , a childrens story of two rabbi ts who chose to

marry and their ensuing wedding that is attended by all forest creatures. To white

segregationists, the work promoted miscegenation because the illustrator had chosen to portray

the male bunny with black fur and the female bunny with white. In May 1959, Reed was called

before an Alabama State Senate Committee chaired by Eddins to address the charges of

disseminating inappropriate materials. Eddins asserted that Rabbits Wedding was dangerous

and anti-segregationist, as well as the idea that the South could not tolerate more than one

viewpoint on segregation. 25 Eddins went on to demand that Reed remove Rabbits Wedding

from Alabama public libraries, Reed refused despite threats to the libraries budgets. Despite her

23 Patterson Toby Graham. "Public Librarians and the Civil Rights Movement: Alabama, 1955-

1965." Library Quarterly 71, no. 1(January 2001):4-5.

24 Ibid., 5.

25 Ibid., 6-7.


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assertion that the work was not integrationist and was merely a childrens book about bunnies,

she did concede to place the work on a special shelf created for racially controversial materials.

Reed defended her decision to keep Rabbits Wedding on the basis of intellectual freedom.

Stating that even if the work was pro-integration (which she did not think it was), the library had

a responsibility to provide information on all sides of the argument. Reed followed the outlines

laid out by the ALA of resisting censorship not due to protecting specific content, but due to a

belief that all sides should be represented. The ALAs Library Bill of Rights asserts that

Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and

historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal

disapproval. 26 This allowed Reed to oppose the removal of Rabbits Wedding without

defending its content. Senator Eddins faced a strong public backlash both in Alabama and the

nation for his opposition of Rabbits Wedding , but the feud with Reed did not end there. In

August 1959, Eddins spoke before the Joint Segregation Screening Committee to put forth a bill

that would change the requirements for the position of director of Library Service in Alabama.

Eddins sought to remove the requirement of a Masters in Library Science and limit candidacy to

Alabama natives, which would make Reed ineligible to hold the position. Professional librarians

in Alabama reacted strongly. While they had not made any great stands against the censorship

attacks or segregation issues, the threat to their professional standing provided a cause they could

easily support. After a great deal of pressure by librarians and library supporters, the Screening

26 American Library Association. Library Bill of Rights

http://acrl.org/ala/oif/statementspols/statementsif/librarybillofrights.pdf (accessed April 21,

2008).
http://acrl.org/ala/oif/statementspols/statementsif/librarybillofrights.pdfhttp://acrl.org/ala/oif/statementspols/statementsif/librarybillofrights.pdfhttp://acrl.org/ala/oif/statementspols/statementsif/librarybillofrights.pdf


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Committee worked with the executive board of Library Service to create a compromise bill that

did not require native Alabaman citizenship. Although Reed survived the controversy with her

job, she resigned only two months after the compromise bill was passed. 27

With the Supreme Courts decision on Brown v. Board of Education and the overturn of

legal support for segregation, the Souths public facilities both resisted and complied with the

policy of integration. By 1960, the issue of segregation had come finally to the forefront of

professional library publications. Eric Moon, the editor of Library Journal , published his

scathing piece on segregation called The Silent Subject. Moon first started his editorial by

pointing out the overwhelming lack of professional work on segregation. Stating that any

librarian looking at our library periodicals over the past five or six years would find it difficult to

divine that libraries were involved in such problems [as segregation] or even that a segregation

problem existed. 28 Moon goes on to lambast the ALA for condemning the censorship of any

book based on the race or nationality of the author but supporting such restrictions upon

readers. He also questions the need of another committee by the ALA to study the civil rights

question and the refusal of ALA leaders to step into the segregation question citing it as local

issue. Moon closes his article with the conclusion that while many librarians in the South would

support integration and are working towa rds that goal, an equal number would not stick their

necks out without the expectation of visible or concrete means of support from the rest of the

27 Patterson Toby Graham. Public Librarians: 8 -13

28 Eric Moon. The Silent Subject. Library Journal 85, no. 22 (15 December 1960): 4436.


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profession. 29

In the same issue as Moons editorial, Library Journal ran an article by Brooklyn

librarian, Rice Estes. Estes, like Moon, decries the lack of involvement by the ALA in matters of

segregation, equating censorship with segregation. Estes also urges librarians throughout the

nation, especially those in the North to ignore their fears of being d eemed interfering with local

matters. Instead Estes says Negro citizens in the South are looking to us for support, not

interference. It is natural that they should look to us for we are the only librarians who are free

to lend support. Their own lib rarianscannot easily speak out because of reprisals and political

retaliations. 30 The solution, according to Estes, is the concerted effort of librarians across the

nation with support of the existing ALA framework to promote integration and pressure

Southern communities to bend to the law of the land.

The ALA did amend the Library Bill of Rights in 1961 to include the following

statement: The rights of an individual to the use of the library should not be denied or abridged

because of his race, religio n, national origin, or political views. 31 Discussion of segregation in

libraries soon populated the pages of library periodicals. Both Library Journal and Wilson

Library Bulletin featured readers columns in their publications throughout 1961 to 1962.

Librarians wrote in to voice their support for integration or to caution their peers to negotiate the

29 Eric Moon. The Silent Subject.: 4437.

30 Rice Estes. Segregated Libraries. Library Journal. 85, no. 22 (15 December 1960): 4419.

31 Susan Lee Scott. "Integration of Public Library Facilities in the South: Attitudes and Actions

of the Library Profession." Southeastern Librarian 18(Fall 1968): 162-69.


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difficult waters with care. In the following years, librarians published articles on segregation and

the success (or failure of integration) throughout the professional publications. Articles on

access, statistics of service in integrated libraries, and even the attitudes of the profession

towards integration appeared in Southeastern Librarian , Library Journal, and Wilson Library

Bulletin. 32 Among the actions taken by the ALA was a proposal by the Intellectual Freedom

Committee (IFC) to address the issue of continued segregation of the professional organizations.

The 1961 proposal asked chapters if they continued to be segregated. All of the reported that

they allowed African-Americans to become members of the organization, but three reported they

did not have black members at the present time. 33 The IFC also proposed to limit membership

of the ALA to non-segregated institutions. This resolution was hotly debated and eventually a

much reduced version of the proposal passed the ALA Council.

In the thirty or so years between the discussion of racial segregation at Richmond and the

amendment of the Library Bill of Rights to protect access for all people, the ALA and the

32 Eric Moon. "A Concern for Users." Library Journal 87, no. 13 (July 1962): 2494-97; Virginia

Lacy Jones. "How Long? Oh, How Long?" Library Journal 87, no. 22 (December 1962): 4505;

Archie McNeal. "Access to Libraries." Southeastern Librarian 13 (Winter 1963): 207-11;

Bernice Lloyd Bell. "Public Library Integration in Thirteen Southern States, 1954-1962." Library

Journal 88 (December 1963): 4713-15; Susan Lee Scott. "Integration of Public Library Facilities

in the South: Attitudes and Actions of the Library Profession." Southeastern Librarian 18(Fall

1968): 162-69.

33 Susan L ee Scott. Integration of Public Library Facilities in the South.: 165.


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professional aspect of librarianship did little to promote desegregation. Despite statements of

professional ethics for librarians that not only supported equal access for all, but encourage every

book and every reader to find each other; individual librarians failed to stand out in the lead

against segregation. In part, this is due to the ambiguity of support from the national

professional organization. The lack of a clear and forthright stance from the ALA and an

extreme delay in any action from the organization may have led local librarians to believe that

the fight against segregation was without backing on the national level. In their professional

publications, librarians discuss the issues that shape the profession. Either discussion of practical

matters like funding or cataloging or more intellectual matters of the very theory of librarianship,

the professional journals are a mirror to what is being discussed by the ALA and librarians

themselves. The scarcity of the articles on racial segregation demonstrates that librarians were

either unwilling or felt unable to address the problems of segregation in libraries. The discussion

that did arise in early library publications is much more focused on the issue of segregation

within the profession and the impact of segregation upon the professional status of African-

American librarians.

Additionally, librarians, despite a strong belief in freedom and the freedom to read, have

been less than successful in American history in challenging social norms. As with issues of

political censorship, individual librarians were less effective in instituting sweeping changes in

racial segregation. Like many other professional organizations, librarians were limited in their

local activism by pressures from their communities and a desire to preserve both their positions

and the libraries funding. As was demonstrated with the Reed incident, librarians that chose to

provide pro-integration materials (or even materials that could be seen as such) were subject to


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attack both on the professional level and on the level of funding for their institution. Such

ramifications may make it difficult for an individual librarian to challenge the system fearing

harsh reprisals that could result in the loss of a job or the loss of funding for the whole library

system. A cultural shift of the nation and the increase of support for local librarians by the

national organization and their peers allowed many librarians to begin to face down the specter

of segregation in the 1960s. Librarians have been socially active in a number of areas, often

advocating a level of freedom (both intellectual and physical) that many Americans do not

support. However, in the case of racial segregation, librarians as a profession failed for a variety

of reasons to lead the way.


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Reference List

1. "Report of the Committee on Racial Discrimination." ALA Bulletin 31(1937): 37-38.

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