here's what Wikipedia states... (all I'm doing is stating the obvious obvious factor....)(s)
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is generally funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants.
As the United States developed from the 18th century to today, growing more populous and wealthier, factors such as a push for education and desire to share knowledge led to broad public support for free libraries. In addition, money donations by private philanthropists provided the seed capital to get many libraries started. In some instances, collectors donated large book collections.[1]
Once the idea of the public library as an agency worthy of taxation was broadly established during the 19th and early 20th centuries, librarians through actions of the American Library Association and its division devoted to public libraries, the Public Library Association, sought ways to identify standards and guidelines to ensure quality service.[19] Legislation such as the Library Services Act and the Library Services and Construction Actensured that unserved areas and unserved groups would have access to library services.[20]
In 2009, with the Great Recession, many public libraries have budget shortfalls. The library in Darby, Pennsylvania found expenses were greater than revenues from local property taxes, state funds, and investment income; it was on the risk of closing, according to a newspaper report.[21]
United States[edit]
- Bobinski, George S. Carnegie Libraries: their history and impact on American public library development. (American Library Association 1969) ISBN 0-8389-0022-4
- Bryan, Alice Isabel. The public librarian: a report of the public library inquiry (Columbia University Press, 1952)
- Carrier, Esther Jane. Fiction in public libraries, 1876–1900 (Scarecrow Press, 1965)
- Garrison, Dee. Apostles of Culture: the public librarian and American society, 1876–1920. (Free Press (1979) ISBN 0-02-693850-2
- Glynn, Tom, Reading Publics: New York City's Public Libraries, 1754-1911 (Fordham University Press, 2015). xii, 447 pp.
- Jones, Theodore. Carnegie Libraries Across America: A Public Legacy (1997)
- Martin, Lowell A. Enrichment: A History of the Public Library in the United States in the Twentieth Century (2003)
- Martin, Lowell Arthur, et al. Library response to urban change: a study of the Chicago Public Library (Chicago: American Library Association, 1969)
- Mickelson, Peter. "American Society and the Public Library in the Thought of Andrew Carnegie." Journal of Library History (1975) 10#2 pp 117–138.
- Rose, Ernestine. The public library in American life (Columbia University Press, 1954)
- Shera, Jesse Hauk. Foundations of the public library;: The origins of the public library movement in New England, 1629–1885 (1965)
- Spencer, Gwladys. The Chicago public library: origins and backgrounds (Gregg Press, 1972)
- Watson, Paula D. "Founding mothers: The contribution of women's organizations to public library development in the United States." Library Quarterly (1994): 233-269. in JSTOR
- Whitehill, Walter Muir. Boston Public Library: A Centennial History (Harvard University Press, 1956)
- Wiegand, Wayne A. Main Street Public Library: Community Places and Reading Spaces in the Rural Heartland, 1876–1956 (University of Iowa Press, 2011)
- Wiegand, Wayne A. A Part of Our Lives: A History of the American Public Library (Oxford University press, 2015).
- Williamson, William Landram. William Frederick Poole and the Modern Library Movement (Columbia University Press, 1963)
- Willis, Catherine J. Boston Public Library (Arcadia Publishing, 2011)
Historiography[edit]
- Davis, Donald G. Jr and Tucker, John Mark. American Library History: a comprehensive guide to the literature. (ABC-CLIO, 1989) ISBN 0-87436-142-7
- Harris, Michael H. and Davis, Donald G. Jr. American Library History: a bibliography. Austin: University of Texas (1978). ISBN 0-292-70332-5
- Harris, Michael H. "Library history: a critical essay on the in-print literature." Journal of Library History (1967): 117-125. in jSTOR
- Wiegand, Wayne A. "American Library History Literature, 1947–1997: Theoretical Perspectives?." Libraries & Culture (2000): 4-34. in JSTOR
Libraries Can't Ban the Homeless, U.S. Court in Newark Rules
By ROBERT HANLEY,
Published: May 23, 1991
Correction Appended
MORRISTOWN, N.J., May 22— A Federal judge ruled today that public libraries cannot bar homeless people because their presence, their staring or their hygiene annoys or offends other library patrons.
At a time when libraries across the country are increasingly used as a refuge by homeless people, however, the judge, H. Lee Sarokin of Federal District Court in Newark, did not dispute the right of public libraries to draft rules governing its patrons, including the homeless.
"Libraries cannot and should not be transformed into hotels or kitchens, even for the needy," he said. But, he said the regulations must be specific, "their purposes necessary and their effects neutral."
Judge Sarokin ruled in a case involving the Free Public Library of Morristown and Morris Township here, which adopted a set of rules in July 1989 specifically to keep out a 41-year-old homeless man from Morristown, Richard R. Kreimer.
While upholding the library's rules banning patrons without shirts or shoes, he said that other rules were too vague or broad, including ones barring patrons who are not reading, studying or using library materials, who harass or annoy others through noisy activities or by staring, or whose "bodily hygiene is so offensive" that it is a nuisance to others.
"If we wish to shield our eyes and noses from the homeless, we should revoke their condition, not their library cards," he wrote. Judge Sarokin said the unconstitutional regulations violated the First Amendment rights of the homeless by denying them access to the ideas in the books and newspapers in the library. "The First Amendment protects the right to express ideas and the right to receive ideas," he said.
He went on, "Society has survived not banning books which it finds offensive from its libraries; it will survive not banning persons whom it likewise finds offensive from its libraries."
Standing outside the library this afternoon with his lawyer, Bruce S. Rosen, Mr. Kreimer called Judge Sarokin's decision a "great ruling."
"The issue is does a homeless person have the same right to read, to sit and think, as someone else," he said. "You cannot discriminate. Just because a person doesn't look as good, smell as good or dress as good, you're not going to keep him out of the library."
Mr. Rosen, Mr. Kreimer's lawyer, called the ruling "novel."
"I don't know if there are any other rulings in the country dealing directly with homeless rights to public libraries under the First Amendment," he said.
The chief librarian, Nancy Byouk, declined to comment on the case, referring questions to the library's lawyer, Clifford W. Starrett.
Mr. Starrett said he would not comment on the ruling, or a possible appeal, until, after he and the library's board of trustees had discussed it. Libraries as Shelters
The executive director of the New Jersey Library Association, Patricia Tumulty, said she could not comment on the ruling until she read it. But she said the question of when a librarian can ask someone to leave has been increasingly discussed in New Jersey, where homeless people have appeared in city libraries more and more frequently, particularly in the winter.
"One of the things that librarians never do is ask people why they are there," Ms. Tumulty said.
Under New Jersey statutes, she said, it is up to libraries to develop policies and procedures on when a person will be asked to leave. A subcommittee of the library association is trying to develop a position paper on the subject.
Across the country, homeless people often turn to public libraries as daytime shelter, especially in winter. One community, Haverhill, Mass., has even designed a new library with a separate room specifically for homeless people.
Judge Sarokin's ruling is Mr. Kreimer's second legal triumph in the last month. On April 19, New Jersey's Attorney General, Robert J. DelTufo, held that the homeless in New Jersey must be allowed to vote even if they have no permanent mailing address or specific domicile in the election district where they are staying. Calls Ball Park Home
That case also involved Mr. Kreimer, who had applied to vote through the Morris County Election Superintendent, using the address of "Streets of Morristown, Fourth Ward." Election officials here had requested guidance from Mr. DelTufo on Mr. Kreimer's application.
Mr. Kreimer said today that in lives in Ledgewood Park, a baseball and basketball complex, in the Fourth Ward here. He said he had played both sports there as a youth.
"Sometimes I sleep under blankets, sometimes in a sleeping bag," he said. "If it's raining, I may go into a baseball dugout."
Asked where he took his meals, he replied, "I get them from a friend."
Mr. Kreimer grew up in Morristown and had worked as a house painter and in the warehouse of his family's paper goods business until about a decade ago, he said. He said he had been homeless since he lost his own house in 1982 "because of some family problems." He would not elaborate.
While his lawsuit against the library was pending before Judge Sarokin, library officials softened their regulations against his presence in the building and allowed him to enter. Reading About Sports
He said he generally spent an hour each morning and an hour each evening there, reading mostly books on sports.
"I just finished a biography of Yogi Berra," he said. He said he had also recently read books on Ron Guidry, the former Yankee pitcher; on the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry over the years, and on what he called the chronological stories of Eskimos.
During his months-long, highly publicized fight with the library, Mr. Kreimer has become widely known here and apparently fairly deeply disliked.
As he spoke outside the library this afternoon, at least five passing motorists shouted derogatory remarks at him. He also got into a heated exchange with one couple on the sidewalk.
"None of them know what it's like to be living on the streets," he said. "Despite the social and economic disadvantages of the homeless, we have the same rights to a library as everybody else."
Photo: Richard R. Kreimer, a homeless man who won his suit against Morristown, N.J., on access to town's library. (Najlah Feanny for The New York Times)
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Missing: ban
Ha! Even google be telling them they are missing the policy published online about banning individuals!
This has happened, is happening, and will not continue to happen now that I know about it! I have never heard of someone being banned from public transit? or banned from a sidewalk? or not being allowed to pee on a tree? oh wait- they totally do that here, or try...
Literally- I almost just was murdered... that is a whole other blog... but first... I had to continue to bring about the (there arent words- I just theasuraused the shit out of whats available in 10 minutes to try to put a word to it...)behavior of those where I am currently living and yes, I want to knwo how many people are banned nation wide, currently....
were banned during 9-11-12
The blizzard of 1993 that affected the south east.
Who was the first modern day person banned and what for? I want to be the last...
I am pissed...
now google knows where I am- lets see about facebook?! :)
I'm in San Jose mind you at Little Orchard Respite!
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