Quick Summary
Inspired by the research we conducted for our Radical All Along MLA presentation, Team Gratia (Sara Ring, Olivia Moris, & Ann Walker Smalley) have started the
Inspired by the research we conducted for our Radical All Along MLA presentation, Team Gratia (Sara Ring, Olivia Moris, & Ann Walker Smalley) have started the @MnLibHistory Twitter account because we found so much more than we could share in one presentation. Choosing our avatar was easy. Gratia Countryman is an outstanding figure in Minnesota Library History.
Gratia was a populist who transformed the library from a place for the elite to research to a place where the 'common people' could be surrounded by books & learning. She was the Director of Minneapolis Public Library (1904-1936). She created reading rooms around the city, established 14 library branches, & reached into Hennepin Co with bookmobiles. She was an active member of many library organizations--on the Public Library Commission, president of MLA, in the Twin Cities Library Club, and more. She was a prolific contributor to the various library publications of the day. Her vision for libraries has had a lasting influence on Minnesota's & the nation's libraries.
The source material for our presentation included Minnesota Library News & Notes, the MLA Collection, Reports of the Public Library Commission, Minnesota Libraries, & some serendipitous finds. Many of these can be found in Minnesota Reflections and Hathitrust.
Gratia started to tweet on her birthday (Nov 26) & hopes to tweet at least three times a week on her observations & opinions on library issues of her day & ours. We think Gratiawould have much to say on modern libraries & the challenges they face. You can expect to learn snippets of Minnesota library history, see pictures of libraries & events, & whatever else we find interesting. Follow Gratia @MnLibHistory and the hashtag #GratiaTweets.
Team Gratia welcomes your library's history & pictures or other gems of MnLibHistory, too. Send them to MnLibHistory@gmail.com.
"If a library is to perform its functions of elevating the people, it will need to adopt methods other than buying a fine collection of books and housing them in an attractive building and then waiting in a dignified way for people to come." Gratia Countryman, 1905.
Photo credit: University of Minnesota Archives, Class of 1889, Gratia Countryman
