Hartford Public Library / Truman R. Temple, Librarian, 1927-1943

File — Box: 3 & 4

Staff Only

Scope and Content

From the Collection:

This collection contains the annual reports for the organization known originally as the Hartford Young Men’s Institute 1839-1878, then the Hartford Library Association 1878 - 1893 and then the Hartford Public Library 1893 - present. The Reports begin in 1840 and continue to the present with only the years 1842, 1843, 1845, 1859, 1863, 1867, 1881 missing.

Dates

1927-1943

Access Restrictions

The records are stored in a restricted area and therefore may not be available on a same-day basis.

Extent

From the Collection: 3.5 linear_feet (7 boxes)

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Abstract

Expanded work with the foreign born establishing a special department highlighting the library’s job of “Americanization” of immigrants. The opening of a Business Branch Library which strived to meet the increasingly specific demands of the booming business community in Hartford, library expanded its branch library system, delivery truck and telephones helped to facilitate circulation between the Main Library and the branch libraries, the effects of the Great Depression and chronic unemployment, discuss the need for a new, modern central library building, dedicated space and services for teenagers, new ideas about the needs of the African American population, the role of the library as life-long educator, a preserver of freedom and democracy in the face of aggressive fascism at the onset and during World War II.