Friday, July 31, 2009

H. Parmelee Library Company

The library cover story for August on the Library History Buff website is about the H. Parmelee Library Company. The H. Parmelee Library Company was founded in Iowa in 1882. It developed a rotating "package" collection which it called the University of the Traveling Library. The company relocated to Chicago in 1898 where it continued to market its rotating package library as a way of providing "A Thoroughly Equipped and Permanent Library In every Town and Hamlet in America." The company went out of business in 1902 but resumed business as the Plymouth Libraries. Sid Huttner, Head of Special Collections for the University of Iowa Libraries has compiled more background information about the H. Parmelee Library Company as part of his Lucile Project website. For more about traveling libraries in the United States click here. For more library cover stories check the 2007 archives, the 2008 archives, and the 2009 archives.

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