International Mind Alcoves: The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Libraries, and the Struggle for Global Public Opinion, 1917–54. (1st November 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Witt, Steven W.
• Is Part Of: Library & information history. Volume 30:Number 4(2014:Dec.)
• Page Start: 273
• Page End: 290
• Publication Date: 2014-11-01
• Subjects: libraries -- propaganda -- globalization -- internationalism -- non-governmental-organizations -- foreign policy; Libraries -- History -- Periodicals; Library science -- History -- Periodicals; Documentation -- History -- Periodicals; 020.9005
• DOI: 10.1179/1758348914Z.00000000068
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1758-3489

Abstract

Abstract: In 1918, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) partnered with libraries to develop International Mind Alcove collections in the United States and abroad. These collections aimed to help put an end to war by encouraging international understanding and developing cosmopolitan perspectives across the globe. During the programme's forty-year history, the alcoves grew from a group of small informal collections to a well-funded and highly organized operation. As the programme evolved, it utilized libraries, books, and the media to advocate for internationalism, educate the public about other nations, and instil cross-cultural understanding in children before they became embroiled in political controversy. The Mind Alcove programme and the work of librarians in its creation represents a significant episode in library history, placing the library profession within the early twentieth-century development of international organizations and global information networks that are the forerunners of contemporary international non-governmental organizations and global social movements.