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April 15, 2002
New Book about Libraries and Reading in the Cold War Published by the Center for the Book
Books, Libraries, Reading, and Publishing in the Cold War, a 298-page book of essays, has been published by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. The volume contains 20 scholarly papers presented by library historians at an international conference in Paris, June 11-12, 1998.
Essays and their authors include: "The Overseas Libraries Controversy and the Freedom to Read: U.S. Librarians and Publishers Confront Joseph McCarthy," by Louise S. Robbins; "The Effect of the Cold War on Librarianship in China," by Cheng Huanwen; "U.S. Youth Services Librarians and Cold War Censorship, 1946-1955," by Christine Jenkins; "Reading in the Context of Censorship in the Soviet Union," by Valeria D. Stelmakh; and "Cold War Librarianship: Soviet and American Library Activities in Support of National Foreign Policy, 1946-1991," by Pamela Spence Richards.
The papers, edited by Hermina G.B. Anghelescu and Martine Poulain, were originally published in the Winter 2001 issue (Volume 36/1) of Libraries & Culture: A Journal of Library History, edited by Donald G. Davis Jr., and published by the University of Texas Press. Hermina G.B. Anghelescu is assistant professor in the Library and Information Science Program at Wayne State University. Martine Poulain is the general conservator of the libraries and director of MÈdiadix, University of Paris. As a sociologist, she has published many articles on the sociology of reading, the history of libraries, and the history of censorship.
The book is dedicated to Pamela Spence Richards (1941-1999) of Rutgers University, an energetic historian who, with Martine Poulain and Marie-Noelle Frachon, organized the 1998 conference on which this volume is based. It includes a biographical sketch of Pamela Spence Richards by Betty Turock of the School of Communication, Information & Library Studies, Rutgers University; tributes to Ms. Richards from Donald G. Davis, Jr., Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Texas at Austin and Valeria Stelmakh, Russian State Library; and an index to the volume prepared by students in the Library and Information Science Program, Wayne State University, Detroit.
The 1998 conference, initiated by Pamela Spence Richards, was organized under the auspices of the Library History Round Table of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), »cole nationale superieure des sciences d'information et des bibliothËques (ENSSIB), and the Villeurbanne Centre de Formation aux CarriËres de BibliothËques (MÈdiadix), with assistance from the IFLA Section on Reading.
The image on the book's dust jacket is from a 1960 poster in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress (negative number LC-USZC4-3344). It depicts an idealized Soviet man crushing a militarist within a book of "history." The translated poster title is: "A new just society is coming to replace the obsolete capitalist society."
Books, Reading, Libraries, and Publishing in the Cold War, a 298-page cloth bound book, is available for $25 from Oak Knoll Press, 310 Delaware St., New Castle, DE 19720; telephone (302) 328-7232; toll-free (800) 996-2556; fax (302) 328-7274. The book can be ordered online at: www.oakknoll.com.
The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress was established in 1977 to use the resources and prestige of the Library of Congress to stimulate public interest in books, reading, and libraries. For information about its program and publications and the activities of its affiliates across the nation, see its Web site: www.loc.gov/cfbook .
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PR 02-052
04/15/02
ISSN 0731-3527