Bridging the Gap in Early Library Education History for African Americans: The Negro Teacher-Librarian Training Program (1936-1939).

Abstract

The development of a little-known library education program during the pre-Brown v. Board and pre-civil rights era is explored in detail. Scarcely noted in the literature, the program was hosted on four historically Black colleges and university (HBCU) campuses and is credited with training more than 200 African American teacher-librarians from 16 southern states during the Jim Crow period. Provided is an account of significant historical precursors, including the first-ever accreditation of southern Negro public high schools, details of the involvement of the American Library Association (ALA) through its Board of Education for Librarians hip, the role of Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), other national and regional education organizations, and philanthropic foundations. It is noted that the efforts put forth in expediting this initiative and the success of the program are wedged between the end of the Hampton Library School program and the founding and existence of the Clark Atlanta University (CAU) School of Library Service, which currently faces closure. The author contextualizes the program s importance to the evolvement of secondary education of the largely undereducated and disenfranchised people of the southern region and the quiet impact on social change. Suggested also are the implications the geographic structure of this 1930s program has for recruitment of African Americans to library education programs today.

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