Passing the Torch: Haynes McMullen's American Library History Database and American Libraries Before 1876

Abstract

After forty years of historical research and data collecting, Haynes McMullen unveils the first monograph produced from his American Library History Database. Jesse Shera and Haynes McMullen per sonally created the database, and it is only in McMullen's twilight years that he even employs student assistants in its maintenance. Their work is the equal of Robin Alston's much larger (British Isles) Li brary History Database. The American database records slightly over ten thousand libraries before 1876; the British, thirty thousand be fore 1851. The American database ends with the publication of part 1 of the U.S. Bureau of Education's Public Libraries in the United States