Abstract
My independent study concerns the change in American public libraries from the 1940s to the contemporary moment. Through this time libraries have shifted from paternalistic institutions with narrow goals to inclusive resource centers. Building from historical research, library science scholarship, and a range of primary sources especially from the American Library Association's journal I identify three key waves of change in libraries. First racial integration which revolves around legal mandates to desegregate, youth inclusion through the 1960s based on popular concerns and growing recognition of teenagers as a demographic, and most recently queer inclusion beginning in the 1980s with staff activism. Each wave resulted in libraries broadening the populations they serve and over time expanding their collections and services.
Moreover, each of these changes is important to the development of libraries into their current form but also represents a way that libraries could be protected or hurt. Libraries are presently dealing with a modern right-wing censorship movement and the ongoing issue of misinformation. Identifying what factors have led to changes historically is crucial to determining how libraries can best be protected and supported to enable future changes. This socio-cultural history highlights how the guiding philosophy of librarianship has changed. As a result, this history is broad and covers the United States generally. It is a history that is neglected in both library science and historical scholarship but is especially important to revisit given the present challenges to libraries. The present progressive libraries were not an inevitability and instead are the result of specific historical changes and the work of activists.
Advisor
Adams, Beatrice
Department
History
Recommended Citation
Kitchell, Quentin A., "Evolution of Inclusion: Changing Services, Collections, and Policies in American Public Libraries from 1940-Present" (2025). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 11675.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/11675
Disciplines
Cultural History | History | Political History | Social History | United States History
Keywords
Libraries, Public Libraries, Institutional History, Library, Public Institution, Diversity, Inclusion
Publication Date
2025
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2025 Quentin A. Kitchell