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The ALA honored two children's books that had positive portrayals of Russia during a time where many Americans were growing intolerant and "uneasy" towards anythig having to do with the U.S.S.R. These books included "Ilenka" by L. Kingman and "My Mother is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World" by B. Reyher. (Jenkins)
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This was the first ALA conference in three yeras, due to wartime travel restrictions. The Conference theme was "Gearing Libraries to a New Epoch," stressing intergroup/inter-racial and international cooperation, as well as the importances of the United Nations and UNESCO. Programming for Youth Services included a presentation on evaluating materials about foreign countries (specifically those that would promote understanding about the U.S.S.R. among young American library users). (Jenkins)
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The 1947 ALA Conference included two programs sponsored by the Young People's Reading Round Table and the American Association of School Libraries (AASL), citing current book challenges as "symptoms of the rising tide of intolerance and the suppression of freedom of thought and inquiry throughout the country" (Jenkins).
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In 1948, the Chamber of Commerce published the pamphlet "A Program for Community Anti-Communist Action," a "basic textbook" for those interested in helping to "root out the Reds" in the media, libraries and other public organizations, "making people watchdogs for possible Communist infractions" (Jenkins).
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"During the postwar anti-communist campaign hundreds of elementary and high school teachers were investigated and lost their jobs, sometimes as a result of being named by proliferating 'anti-subversive' groups and individuals. The motives of some self-serving or vindictive accusers were summed up by Herb Block in a phrase: 'If you can't crush the commies, you can nail a neighbor.' “ (Library of Congress, Herb Block Collection). Source: Image: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/herblock/
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In 1951, Alabama Library Association's President Shenk created the Bi-Racial Committee to study the possibility of admitting African American Librarians. The committee dissolved with no real action. (Graham)
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The American Library Association and the National Education Association joined forces to provide "positive resistance" to superpatriot groups' censorship efforts, publishing annotated bibliographies that repeatedly recommended books and authors that had been labeled "subversive," "Red" and/or sympathetic to Communists. (Jenkins)
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Marking a major shift in philosphy and practice, the Houston Public Library System changed it's policy to "token integration," seven years before the Houston Independent School District began to desegregate. Some 200,000 books and all of the branches became available to adult African Americans (not children). Without a public announcement, however, fewer than fifty people had registered as borrowers by the end of the year. (Malone)
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1953 Book Week Poster features three white children. More ALA posters: http://imagesearchnew.library.illinois.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/alaposters
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ALA & NEA's December 1953 annotated bibliography of recommended books honored International Brotherhood and Human Rights. (Jenkins)
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ALA & NEA's October 1954 annotated bibliography of recommended books focused on international relations, the UN, and creating "citizens of the world." (Jenkins)
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In her survey of Mississippi libraries, D. McAllister found that only 12 of Mississippi's 50 library systems offered services to Blacks. While White librarians were "sympathetic and interested in improving library services to Blacks,” Black branches “suffered from inadequate funding and low levels of use." (Cresswell)
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ALA & NEA's February 1955 annotated bibliography of recommended books, entitled "Brotherhood," included books on the history of racial prejudice and segregation, as well as authors labeled as "subversives." (Jenkins)
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In the late 1950s-early 1960s, ALA refused to to deal with segregated state library associations. As a result, several states integrated their state library associations, while two others left the national organization altogether. While a good policy in the longrun, it did have the immediate affect of disolving Black library associations in southern states - a useful desegration tool for Black librarians. (Cresswell)
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Libraries “have always been shrines of adult learning and self-help, and nearly all Whites outside the South could sympathize with southern Blacks’ hunger for the unfettered use of an adequate library.” As such, many civil rights campaigns began with a protest at the local library to gain the nation's attention and sympathy. (Cresswell)
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When a local NAACP president and 13 high school/college students entered the White section of the library, 11 of the 14 were arrested for trespassing. Petersburg reopened its library with integrated status without conflict four months later. (Cresswell)
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National Library Week poster from April 1960 More ALA posters: http://imagesearchnew.library.illinois.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/alaposters
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NAACP took Danville, VA to court and won an injunction ordering Danville to desegregate its library, but the majority of city’s residents voted to shut down the library rather than comply. Danville reopened as “integrated” in September, but without tables and chairs, so Black and White people wouldn’t be together long. They also made applications for borrowing privileges four pages long, including four references and a fee
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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights sent investigators into 22 "black belt" southern counties to examine library services to Black residents. Of the 22, five had no libraries at all, while 12 had one or more libraries for Whites only. 5 had separate libraries for the two races. Questionnaires revealed 30 of 109 libraries reported segregated facilities, with White libraries open an average of 33 hours/week, while the Black libraries averaged 15 hours/week. (Cresswell)
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At the 1961 Midwinter Convention, the American Library Association amended the Library Bill of Rights to condemn limitations of library use based on race. (Cresswell)
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Houston library board voted unanimously to close the Colored Carnegie Branch of the Houston Public Library as of July 31, 1961, with no public announcement. The Mayor was informed in a letter that "a bookmobile would continue to visit predominately black neighborhoods on a regular schedule." Later, the replacement library opened in a predominately black neighborhood. It was dedicated to W.L.D. Johnson Sr. (a founder of the original Colored Carnegie Library) in 1964. (Malone)
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1962 Albany, GA: An African American resident is “arrested for trying to read a book in a segregated library.” Source: http://americanwiki.pbworks.com/w/page/32944222/Segregated%20Libraries
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The 1962 commission of a $35,000 “Access Study” of Black citizens’ access to public libraries was part of four signficant steps the ALA took toward ending segregation. The controversial results were announced in 1963, showing that southern libraries were making good progress in the mission to desegregate, but that northern libraries were suffering from "de facto" segregation as a result of residential patterns. (Cresswell)
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15 September 1963: Anniston, Alabama had “worst incident in the history of library segregation”: two young Black ministers went to the all-White library to ask for library cards and they were met by an angry crowd of White men who beat them with fists, sticks, and chains, then destroyed their car. Progressive Anniston city officials offered consolation, mounted a manhunt, and escorted the two men to the library the next day to make sure they were duly registered as borrowers. (Cresswell)
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After staunchly opposing integration and withdrawing chapter status in the ALA in 1962, the LLA rejoined the ALA in 1965 (after the Civil Rights Act of 1964). By 1966, 60 out of 65 parishes had taken some action to integrate.The LLA had its first African American President in 1998. (Harris)
