Back to School
Stories from JSTOR Daily about education, libraries, learning, and student life.
Nella Larsen’s Lessons in Library School
Larsen’s novels were influenced by her training in the New York Public Library system, where she faced rigid ideas about the racial classification of knowledge.
Ronald Reagan’s Library Legacy
Archival material shows the hefty and careful investment the president and his team put into crafting his image for perpetuity.
How American Librarians Helped Defeat the Nazis
Recruited to the war effort thanks to their deft research skills and technological know-how, librarians used microforms to gather and share intelligence with Allied forces.
Uncle Sam Wants You to Donate Books!
During World War I, the American Library Association built libraries on military training camps in a project that championed patriotism, literacy, and self-improvement.
The Boston Athenæum
Founded in 1807, the subscription library was a gathering place for local scholars, “men of business,” and members of the upper classes in search of knowledge.
Out of the Card Catalog Closet
Librarians gathered in 1970 to challenge Library of Congress classifications and catalog subject headings that aligned homosexuality with deviance.
Freedom Libraries and the Fight for Library Equity
Freedom libraries in the south provided Black residents with access to spaces and books, whether in church basements or private homes.
Library Fires Have Always Been Tragedies. Just Ask Galen.
When Rome burned in 192 CE, the city's vibrant community of scholars was devastated. The physician Galen described the scale of the loss.
Libraries and Pandemics: Past and Present
The 1918 influenza pandemic had a profound impact on how librarians do their work, transforming libraries into centers of community care.