A History of Location of U.S. Public Libraries Within Community Place and Space: Evolving Implications for the Library's Mission of Equitable Service

摘要

This article reviews the spatial development of the American public library. The article describes and illuminates the effectiveness and simplicity of past siting and location criteria, compared with the need for more sophisticated methodology in the complex present-day environment in which the majority of public libraries now reside. This article lays the groundwork for the implications of continuing traditional, simplistic, and haphazard site selection methods that worked in the past, which now demand critical re-evaluation, The article provides a summary of past and present trends in public library facility location, the profession's attitudes and opinions regarding the physical location of facilities and official standards historically and presently available to guide location decisions. The descriptive literature is reviewed in a chronological manner to offer insight into how some views remained and some changed over time. Although the review is not exhaustive, the material is representative of criteria espoused and practiced over the past 100 years or so.