This essay challenges traditional assumptions about the small-town American public library and the roles it has played in its community. Conventional thinking and professional rhetoric grounded on a "user in the life of the library" perspective identifies the public library as a neutral agency "essential to democracy" that…

Women who promoted library services to children in the United States in the late nineteenth century introduced the systematic use of survey research on library practice to the field of professional librarianship. They created a series of qualitative survey-based reports, the "Reading of the Young" reports, which were presented at ALA conferences…

Reports on a study which examined a random sample of library science Ph.D.s who received their degrees between 1969 and 1979 to compare publishing histories of males and females with regard to quantity and type of publication. Results of data analyses are presented in five tables. (15 references) (MES)

Provides an overview of the life of Mary Wright Plummer, a leader in American librarianship, and her effort to construct a personal identity as an independent woman. Highlights include her Quaker childhood; European travels; self-actualization and career strategies; and blending public and private spheres. (Contains 101 references.) (LRW)

Identifies determinants of librarians' salaries and tests human capital-based explanations of librarianship as a woman's profession. Earnings functions are developed for men and women in public and academic libraries and for women in school libraries, and personal, human capital, and job determinants of salaries are identified. Thirty-one…