Information: Data presented in readily comprehensible form to which meaning has been attributed within the context of its use. In a more dynamic sense, the message conveyed by the use of a medium of communication or expression.
It goes on to say that: “In his inaugural address of 1801, Thomas Jefferson listed the ‘diffusion of information’ as one of the fundamental principles of the republican form of government established under the Constitution of the United States.” (ODLIS)
Gee, so that means that libraries and their role in making information available to the people goes way back in the history of our country, and they are part of what makes our nation tick. That’s pretty neat, eh?
So I took my investigation further and wanted to find out how long public libraries have been around in the United States. Libraries had typically been subscription-based or fee-based until Boston Public Library was established in 1854. It is considered the first public library because it was the first to be funded by tax dollars and provide books to users for no cost. After 1854, more and more public libraries appeared on the American landscape, but not in large numbers. The American Library Association was established in 1876 “to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.” (ALA Web site, “Mission & History”)
In 1898, a national survey by the U.S. Board of Education found that there were only 63
7 public libraries in the U.S. (Jones 2) One man changed that: Andrew Carnegie. From 1893 to 1919, the steel tycoon provided $41,748,689 toward the creation of 1,689 public libraries across the nation. At the 1903 dedication of the Carnegie library in Washington, D.C., he said, “Free libraries maintained by the people are cradles of democracy, and their spread can never fail to extend and strengthen the democratic idea, the equality of the citizen, [and] the royalty of man. They are emphatically fruits of the true American ideal.” (Jones 4)Tuskegee, Institute Library, Alabama
