Southern Libraries

Sixteen years ago the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuithad occasion to consider the function of a public library in modernsociety. 1

It is generally recognized that the maintenance of a public library

is a proper function of the State; and nowhere has the thoughtbeen better expressed than in Johnson v. Baltimore, 158 Md. 93,103, 104, I48A., 209, 213 ... where the court said: .. . Atthe present time it is generally recognized and conceded by allthoughtful people that such institutions form an integral part of asystem of free public education and are among its most efficient andvaluable adjuncts. An enlightened and educated public has cometo be regarded as the surest safeguard for the maintenance andadvancement of the progress of civilized nations. More particularly is this true in republican forms of government, wherein allcitizens have a voice. It is also true that education of the peopleought not to and does not stop upon their leaving school, but mustbe kept abreast of the time by almost constant reading and studying.It would therefore seem that no more important duty or higherpurpose is incumbent upon a State or municipality than to providefree public libraries for the benefit of its inhabitants.

In this chapter the Commission will report the information it hasobtained on denial of equal protection of the laws by libraries receivingfinancial aid from the Federal Government under the Library ServicesAct of I956. 2

For years public library services in the 17 Southern States have

followed the traditional pattern of racial segregation, but practices oftenwent beyond the "separate but equal". According to a 1955 estimate"two-thirds of the Negro population of ... 13 Southern States wereentirely without library services in I953-" 3 Recently Rice Estes, asoutherner (now librarian at the Pratt Institute Library, Brooklyn,New York), observed that in most southern towns not only were Negroesdenied admission to the white branches of libraries, but also to the main

central library where the majority of the books are kept. Heconcluded: 4

Most librarians are unaware of the fact that most public libraries

below the Mason and Dixon Line are segregated [and] . . . nearly10 million Negro citizens of our land are totally or partially deniedaccess to publicly owned books.

It was through Mr. Estes' efforts that the members of the AmericanLibrary Association, meeting in Chicago early in 1961, adopted (by a200 to i vote) a resolution declaring that "the rights of an individualto the use of a library should not be denied or abridged because of hisrace, religion, national origins, or political views." 5 A subsequent report observes that public libraries in the South are still segregated to agreat extent. 6

CITY LIBRARIES

In 1959 it was reported that some 70 southern cities admitted Negroesto full use of main public libraries. 7 On August 15, 1958 a suit was filedfor the desegregation of the public libraries in Memphis, Tennessee, 8 andanother was filed on May 23, 1960 for the desegregation of those inSavannah, Georgia. 9 In the case of Memphis, the efforts of sit-in demonstrators as well as the pending litigation brought about the voluntarydesegregation of the local libraries on October 13, ig6o. 8a

On March 21, 1960, in fact 36 Negroes were fined $25 each in the

Memphis City Court for staging a sit-down at the white public library,and a Negro newspaper editor was fined $50 for inciting them. 10 A fewweeks later four additional Memphis Negro students were jailed forrefusing to comply with the request of a librarian and of the police toleave a "white only" section of the downtown public library. 11 The

efforts of sit-in demonstrators in Jackson, Mississippi, however, have beenof no avail. In early April 1961, nine Negro college students held Mississippi's first sit-in demonstration at the Jackson public library and werearrested. 12

Danville, Virginia's, public library was desegregated as the result of

both sit-in demonstrations and court action. Negroes previously hadbeen issued cards valid only at the Negro branch, but on occasion theyhad been allowed to use the main library. On April 2, 1960, however,after a dozen Negro high school students staged a brief sitdown at themain municipal public library, it was closed. Two days later the city

council adopted an ordinance restricting its use to "present holders oflibrary cards," and temporarily barring further issuance of librarycards. 18

Negro plaintiffs filed a suit in a Federal district court, and on May 6,

1960, the City of Danville was enjoined from refusing use of the mainlibrary to Negro card holders. However, the court suspended the execution of the injunction for 10 days to give the city time to appeal to ahigher court. 14 Before the effective date of the injunction, the CityCouncil again closed the library.

Even staunch segregationists who had fought desegregation of publicschools opposed this action. An editorial in the Richmond News Leader on May 31, 1960, entitled "Segregated Libraries Are Absurd"commented: 18

In Danville and elsewhere, the fairly incredible view is being

expounded that it would be better to close the libraries than toadmit Negroes to them. Such a position is simply absurd .. . a library is something special. The treasures a good library canmake...