The Politics of an Emerging Profession: The American Library Association, 1876-1917

Wiegand examines the development of ALA from 1876 to 1917 in this masterful tale. He looks at the issues that existed during those years, the conflicts, and the changing characteristics of ALA's Executive Board, and succeeds in giving us a particularly revealing picture of the nature of the profession. He analyzes the three elements of Dewey's motto, ‘The best reading for the largest number at the least cost,' and how they characterized ALA's development as the leaders sought to accomplish ...