Founding Mothers: The Contribution of Women’s Organizations to Public Library Development in the United States

The work of women's voluntary associations in support of free public libraries in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is examined in this article. This review addresses work at the local level by individual clubs, as well as activities of state federations and of the national coordinating body, the General Federation of Women's Clubs. Activities studied include widespread club support of traveling libraries, clubwomen's work for library legislation, especially to establish state library extension agencies, and local efforts to found libraries. The cooperation of organized women's groups with the American Library Association, state library associations, and state library commissions is explored as well as early support to library education. Findings are placed in the context of library historical writing to suggest that a substantial contribution to American public library development has thus far received insufficient attention.