Yet more American circulating libraries: a preliminary checklist of Brooklyn (New York) circulating libraries

Abstract

Builds on earlier work, by David Kaser, on circulating libraries in America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. A brief introduction to the history of circulating libraries in America is followed by a study of such libraries in the specific context of Brooklyn (New York) and its socio-economic development. Drawing on a variety of primary sources, including library catalogues and local newspapers and directories, a checklist of thirty-three circulating libraries in Brooklyn, in between 1809 and 1896, is assembled, accompanied by commentary based on primary evidence. The list adds considerably to our knowledge of circulating libraries in Brooklyn (Kaser having identified just two libraries in his earlier work), as well as to our understanding of this important, yet often ephemeral, cultural institution.