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”.