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66th out of 232 books
—
44 voters
Institutions of Reading: The Social Life of Libraries in the United States (Studies in Print Culture and the History of the Book)
Tracing the evolution of the library as a modern institution from the late eighteenth century to the digital era, this book explores the diverse practices by which Americans have shared reading matter for instruction, edification, and pleasure. Writing from a rich variety of perspectives, the contributors raise important questions about the material forms and social shapes...more
Hardcover, 368 pages
Published
May 1st 2007
by University of Massachusetts Press
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The quality of this edited collection was uniformly good, though the vast majority of the contributions were more historically interesting than theoretically provoking. Nonetheless, the book covers topics as chronologically diverse as social libraries in 18th century New England to contemporary concerns of digital archivists. Along the way, the various authors expose their own affinities for libraries (they aren't all librarians, but I would venture they are all accomplished users of their resou...more
Great study of libraries in American culture. Solid methodology and discussion in this compilation. Useful to anybody interested in American book history.
May 02, 2009
Laura
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mlis-texts,
non-fiction
I am giving this book three stars for how it compares as a textbook, which is the context in which I read it. It's fairly pleasant to read, and some of the chapters cover topics that were truly new and interesting to me. If I was reading this book for pleasure, however, it would be too dry to finish. It would feel too much like reading, well, a textbook.
Oct 02, 2012
Mindy
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
history-of-books-libraries
Feb 21, 2012
Holly
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-about-books,
a-non-fiction-adventure
Jan 02, 2012
Jaena Rae
marked it as to-read
Dec 05, 2011
Tracey21464
marked it as to-read
Nov 25, 2011
Martha
marked it as to-read
Sep 26, 2011
Lisa Guidarini
marked it as to-read
Sep 12, 2011
Kristina Aziz
marked it as to-read
Jul 17, 2011
Institute Library
added it
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