- Shapiro, Ruth . “Milwaukee Public Library”. IN: Oko, Dorothy Kuhn and Downey, Bernard F., compilers. Library Service to Labor. New York: Scarecrow Press; 1963; pp. 281-286.
Notes: Here is a case study describing the exemplary service provided, since the beginning of the 1920s, by the Milwaukee Public Library to the labor portion of its constituency. By working with the area’s central labor body, the library provided reading and informational services to labor union members and leaders; book exhibits, special circulating collections, and book lists were among the methods commonly utilized. Librarians from the Milwaukee Public Library regularly attended meetings of Milwaukee’s central labor body, as well as local labor classes, and created special displays for one-time events, such as labor conferences. In addition to ensuring that the library purchased books of interest to labor, the Milwaukee Public Library collected “all labor periodicals, pamphlets and newspapers published in Wisconsin, as well as periodical publications of approximately 25 international unions” (p. 283). All these services were done through the library’s Department of Group Service, which also oversaw service to other groups in the community, such as businesses and religious organizations.