Library Study

New Orleans Library Study

LIBR 280-12
History of Books and Libraries
San Jose State University

Professor Beth Wrenn-Estes

Stephanie Hawkins

May 14, 2012

Introduction

A postcard of the Main Library circa 1920.

The New Orleans Public Library has taken many twists and turns as it has grown from a small venture originally outlined in the will of Abijah Fisk to the large library with 13 branches that exists today.  This blog will look at the origins of the library, the disasters that occurred, funding sources, people involved with the growth and natural disasters that have created problems for the buildings and staff.  Another problem that has faced New Orleans, perhaps more than other libraries, is the issue of segregation between the races.  How do you serve the people, all the free people, when slavery is over and yet not so much in the south?   Overall, the flavor and problems involved in creating and maintaining a library in New Orleans were exciting to study.

Founders

The first public library was actually created by a donation to the city from Abijah Fisk upon his death in 1845.  “I give, devise and bequeath to the city of New Orleans my house at the corner of Customhouse and Bourbon streets, on condition that it shall be applied to the keeping of a library for the use and benefit of the citizens of said city, and to be used for no other purpose.” (Fisk, 1843).  His brother, Alvarez, purchased several thousand dollars of books several years later and pushed to open the library.  Even in the 1840’s politics were causing problems with the implementation of Abijah’s wonderful donation.  It seems that  the smaller towns within New Orleans could not agree on what to do so nothing was getting done. 

This picture is of Abijah Fisk and is courtesy of the New Orleans Public Library website.

This is Alvarez Fisk, brother of Abijah and is also courtesy of the New Orleans Public Library Website.

Once the three towns were consolidated into one city, Alvarez was able to convince the council to proceed with the library open to everyone.  Finally, the city and Alvarez agreed to allow the Mechanics Society to house and manage the library but in a new building.  Thank goodness!  The library was finally open but not in the house that Abijah Fisk left to the city.

Founders continued

The brothers, Abijah and Alvarez Fisk were merchants who worked with cotton, sugar, coffee, and other goods.  It was this industry that made them wealthy and able to provide the donations to the city they loved.  Their early lives are harder to locate, however, making them an interesting enigma.  Of course, due to numerous fires, hurricanes and floods many records in New Orleans have disappeared forever.  It is due to the ties to the public libraries that there are any records at all.   

The Grand Opening in 1852

Once the Mechanics Society, which was formed to support the mechanics, artists and manufacturers in New Orleans, was charged with handling the Fisk library, the books were moved to the society building on Phillipa Street and everything was quickly ready to go.  Finally in 1852 the library was open.  Tragedy struck a few years later, however, when fire hit the building burning it and everything in it to the ground.   Over the next four decades, the library was rebuilt on the same location but it struggled to develop much of a patronage and slowly the dream appeared to be disappearing.

Mechanics Society Building where the first library in New Orleans sponsored by the Fisk Brothers was housed. Picture from New Orleans 1867

Library free from the start

Unlike some libraries that were reading rooms before they became libraries, Abijah Fisk planned his donation for a free library right from the start.  Now, free was not necessarily free by today’s standards.  It is unlikely that Africans, Creoles, and Native Americans would have been allowed in.  Especially before the Civil War ended and probably afterwards as well although this is speculation because as previously noted, most records have been lost due to fires, floods or hurricanes.  The definition of free during the 19^th century in the South did not generally apply to anyone of “color” and it is unlikely that the city council would change the rules and break with longstanding tradition for a library. 

The library for public school students

The other library established in the mid 18^th century was a subscription library for public school students.  Established in 1844 by one of the municipality sub councils, this collection became called the City Library in the 1880’s when it was moved to city hall (NOPL Centennial, ).   The fee required to use the collection helped maintain and expand it.

Combining the two libraries

By 1895, the city of New Orleans was looking to combine the two different libraries and find a new home to house the resulting collection. This actually started when Tulane University asked for permission to acquire the Fisk collection (Dyer, 1966, p.51).  Since this would not adhere to the requirements of the donation, the city declined the request and investigated ways to move the Fisk collection from the Merchant Society building.  At the same time, the City Library previously established in 1844 needed to be moved to a new home and it seemed the perfect time to combine the two and expand them. At this point the city acquired the St. Patrick’s Hall on Lafayette Square. A grant several years later would allow for more books and even some expanded services.

The Turn of the century

As the turn of the century loomed and New Orleans struggled to improve the New Orleans Public Library, a grant was made in the name of Simon Hernsheim, allowing the governing board to purchase new books immediately and invest the rest (NOPL, Centennial).   Shortly after the turn of the century, the greatest gift of all came through.  Just as New Orleans Public Library was faced with losing the building, a Carnegie grant came through for them.

Facing building loss

With the St. Patrick’s Building being a candidate for purchase by the federal government, the New Orleans City Council was facing a search for a new home to house the library.   No one knew for sure what was going to happen, however, so no permanent plans could be made.  Fundraising did start as did some searching for land or potential buildings that could be renovated if needed.  It was then, in 1902, that a grant from Andrew Carnegie in the amount of $250,000 was awarded for a new main library and three branch libraries (NOPL Centennial).  This allowed the fundraising to move forward without worries and in 1908 the Main Library on Lee Street plus the first three branches in Algiers, Napoleon and Royal were open. 

Andrew Carnegie and his grants

Mr. Carnegie started poor and worked through learning and hard work to become a multimillionaire.  Yet he never forgot where he came from and gave back to those who could use a little help.  That help came in the form of grant money to build libraries or better libraries so everyone could have a chance to read and better themselves.  In his years of wealth he provided money to a few thousand libraries in several different countries and most of the time all one needed to do was ask.  Yes, there were a few simple criteria but overall, the grant money was there for the taking.

 It was this grant money that the people of New Orleans were blessed with in the early 1900s while the board was trying to decide what to do about possibly losing the St. Patrick’s Building.  Having a grant that large allowed for expansion in several ways, with a new main library and several branch libraries.  Branch libraries were important in a growing city because they allowed more people access to the books, magazines and newspapers that were available through the library.  True, things were not as fast then as now but reading a newspaper that was a day old or so was not terrible.

The Library at Lee Circle

Once the St. Patrick’s building was bought and the library forced to move, building began in earnest at Lee Circle to complete the new library as quickly as possible.  This new building would house the collections and be expanded for years to come.  Finally, in 1908 the doors to the Main library and the three branch libraries were opened.  Within the next 7 years, another 3 branches were opened around the New Orleans greater area. 

Analysis of the libraries from 1843 to 1905

When Abijah Fisk bequeathed his home to the city of New Orleans for the creation of a library, he had no idea what he was starting.  The problems with who would oversee the property and the collection, would his name remain attached to the collection and for how long, and what to do when merging collections.  All Abijah wanted to do was provide a place for citizens to access reading materials. 

Abijah might be considered ahead of his time in wanting to provide a library in the mid 19^th century but as previously noted libraries of that time were nothing like libraries of today. Most patrons would have been Caucasian although New Orleans did have free people of many races.  Even then, the races did not mingle as a rule unless it was as employee/employer.  So the early libraries were important as a start, but only as a start. 

The subscription library also limited access although since there is little information known about it, availability to all races is unclear.  That well off members of the Creole and African American communities existed at this time is known, but whether they would be allowed to purchase a membership is unclear.  Even today, New Orleans still faces race problems that would make most Mayors tremble. 

Aside from these early public libraries, few other opportunities existed for anyone to borrow monographs unless it was from friends or families.  Few schools had libraries, and most of those were the universities in the state.  So reading something new meant buying a book or borrowing from someone who trusted you enough not to damage or lose it.

St. Patrick’s Hall was the home of the combined library for almost 10 years and quickly became known as simply the “New Orleans City Library”.  This trend away from the Fisk library was important for the city because by 1905, no one remembered who Abijah Fisk was and very few people cared.  As always, New Orleans was a segregated city and making the library name inclusive of the entire city helped in some small way remind people that it was one city, not just a collection of different “villages”. 

Analysis from 1905 to 1915

Once the Carnegie grant was accepted and St. Patrick’s Hall was sold, the new Main Library at Lee Circle was built in about 2 years.  During this time the temporary library was housed in a private home until the Main Library was opened In 1908 along with 3 branch libraries.  Within 65 years, Abijah Fisk’s wish of a library went from his home to a large library plus three branches throughout the New Orleans area.  That is a tremendous amount of growth in such a short amount of time.  The generosity of several benefactors definitely helped, especially Mr. Carnegie and his grant but without the initial donations of the Fisk brothers, would the library system in New Orleans have the long history that exists? 

With the continuing grants from Mr. Carnegie, three more branches were opened in New Orleans by 1915.  Six branches and the main library provided lending opportunities to most citizens in New Orleans within 75 years of the initial start of a free library.   

Main Library at Lee Circle, New Orleans circa 1920.

Updates to the New Orleans Public Library

New Orleans faced several hardships during the 20^th century and the libraries took some major hits.   The Main Library was closed in 1958 and replaced with the new location on Loyola Ave.  This library is bigger and more accessible for everyone.  Currently there are also 13 branch libraries throughout town as well to serve the different areas.  Unfortunately, occasional electrical problems, fires and such have caused temporary closures.  But the biggest problem for the library system happened in August 2005.

Hurricane Katrina is remembered for all the damage she caused throughout the Gulf Coast but in New Orleans proper, the biggest problem was the levies created to hold back the great Mississippi River.  After Katrina blew through, dropping rain, ripping roofs off and doing plenty of damage, the levies broke and released tons of water into the city.  For the library system, the damage resulted in the demolition of 3 branch libraries, only one of which is completely replaced.   Most of the libraries were closed for at least 4 to 6 weeks while minor flooding damage was repaired.  The magnitude of the disaster as a whole is almost unfathomable.  For most people the libraries were not a huge priority but looking through the history of the library as a whole, it was one more disaster that the system would need to overcome.  Fortunately, the city, and the world in general has come a long way with insurance, financing and donations that help when tragedies occur. 

The current New Orleans Main Library on Loyola Street courtesy of the libraries website.  Retrieved from http://nutrias.org/~nopl/info/info.htm

Conclusion

Studying the New Orleans library has been an interesting project.  The city itself has origins that go back over a thousand years but for an English speaking library the origins are in 1843.  It all started with a donation and a dream but that spark launched a venture that now encompasses numerous branches, a few book mobiles, and a main library with sections that cater to the diversity that makes New Orleans so special.  Could Abijah ever have imagined such an outcome? 

Despite the problems and hardships that occurred through the years of growth and stagnation, the various city leaders kept the library open allowing continued learning and enjoyment for the patrons who used it.  But most importantly, this attention, whether it was grudging or just a signature on a line item in the budget, paved the way for major expansion closer to the turn of the century when there was sudden interest in the library.

There are probably not too many libraries who can claim to have gone through quite so many moves, name changes and management change in their history as the New Orleans Public Library.  From the line item in a will to numerous buildings throughout New Orleans, the march towards permanency has been unique and interesting.

Works Cited

Dyer, J. P. (1966). Tulane The Biography of a University. New York: Harper & Row.

Fisk Library: Page 5. (n.d.). New Orleans Public Library. Retrieved May 11, 2012, from http://nutrias.org/spec/pamphlets/fisk/fisk5.htm

Images of the Month--November 1997. (n.d.). New Orleans Public Library. Retrieved May 10, 2012, from http://nutrias.org/monthly/nov97/nov97.htm

Jackson, J. J. (1969). New Orleans in the gilded age; politics and urban progress, 1880-1896. Baton Rouge: Published by Louisiana State University Press for the Louisiana Historical Association.

Lorenzen, M. (n.d.). Deconstructing the Carnegie Libraries. Illinois Periodicals Online. Retrieved May 10, 2012, from http://www.lib.niu.edu/1999/il990275.html/

Martin, M. L., & Skinner, T. (2006). Greetings from New Orleans: A History in postcards. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, Co.. 

 

NOPL Centennial Exhibit: City Archives. (n.d.). New Orleans Public Library. Retrieved May 10, 2012, from http://nutrias.org/exhibits/qbegin.htm

Zante, G., & Lilienthal, T. (2008). New Orleans 1867: photographs by Theodore Lilienthal. London: Merrell.