Digital collection celebrates North Carolina public libraries

What do broadcast journalist David Brinkley, poet Carl Sandburg and actress Tess Harper have in common? They were all regular visitors to their local North Carolina public libraries.

Now anyone can experience the rich heritage of public libraries in North Carolina by visiting the new digital collection: "Transforming the Tar Heel State." Created by the State Library of North Carolina, this collection showcases nearly 800 historic items related to the state’s public libraries including photographs, reports, postcards, posters and much more.

The collection, which was built on CONTENTdm Digital Collection Management Software, can be viewed at: http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/dimp/digital/publiclibraries.

The core of the collection was digitized from the State Library's "Public Library History Files," which were maintained by the North Carolina Library Commission through the first half of the 20th century. For years, the files were kept in a storage area.

To enrich these holdings, the State Library put out a call to all Tar Heel public libraries, asking for digitized photographs that reflected the history of their institutions. More than 40 libraries, as well as the North Carolina State Archives, responded by submitting photos and historical facts that have been incorporated into the project.

Above: Children line up beside the Albemarle Regional bookmobile in Northampton County, North Carolina

"Transforming the Tar Heel State" enables users to learn about the impact of public libraries on North Carolina communities in the first half of the 20th century. Federal programs, such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which funded library buildings, bookmobiles, and other outreach and reading programs, and the Carnegie Endowment, which funded the building of nine libraries around the state, helped bring free library resources, literacy and social improvement to North Carolina in a time when few towns even had paved roads. Public Libraries have continuously served North Carolina communities for 11 decades and remain a vital and vibrant asset to the state and her people.  

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