A History of the American Public Library
A visual exploration of how a critical piece of social infrastructure came to be.
By 
Ariel Aberg-Riger
Ariel Aberg-Riger
Editor’s note: CityLab’s visual storyteller Ariel Aberg-Riger shares the story of how America’s public libraries came to be, and their uneven history of serving all who need them.
Further Reading:
- “The State of America’s Libraries, 2018,” American Library Association
- “To Restore Civil Society, Start with the Library,” New York Times
- “Outrage: Our Libraries Are Not Failing Us, We Are Failing Them,” Architectural Review
- “America’s Public Libraries: A Democratizing, Positive Product of Our Communities,” Columbia University
- “A History of US Public Libraries,” Digital Public Library of America
- “Part of Our Lives: A People’s History of the American Public Library,” (Book)
- “In the City’s Poorest Neighborhoods Libraries Close Earlier and More Often,” The Inquirer
- “Desegregating Libraries in the American South,” American Libraries Magazine
- “Quiet Pioneers, Black Women Public Librarians in the Segregated South,” Vitae Scholasticae
- “A History of GFWC Clubs Establishing and Supporting Public Libraries,” GFWC
- “Founding Mothers: The Contribution of Women’s Organizations to Public Library Development in the United States,” University of Chicago Press
- “A Portfolio of Carnegie Libraries 1907,” University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
