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Dissertation Information for Gary Edward Kraske

NAME:
- Gary Edward Kraske

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- Columbia University (USA) (1982)

ADVISORS:
- Phyllis Dain

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Redmond Kathleen Molz

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: THE AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION IN THE EMERGENCE OF U.S. CULTURAL DIPLOMACY, 1938-1949

Abstract: The American Library Association was one of several nongovernmental organizations which played a significant role in the establishment of an official United States cultural relations program with other nations, which began with the creation in 1938 of the State Department's Division of Cultural Relations. The contribution of private groups such as the ALA to the shaping of the national policy as an aspect of American diplomacy is an almost forgotten chapter in U.S. foreign relations.

This study, following a review of the ALA's international activities between 1876 and 1938, examines the Association's involvement during the pioneering years from 1938 to 1949, when the ALA was party to a three-way partnership in the national interest among the organized library profession, the federal government, and the great private philanthropic trusts, especially the Rockefeller Foundation. During this period the ALA became the leading exponent for books and libraries in the U.S. and in foreign countries.

The major ALA programs are considered within three categories: the establishment of American-style libraries abroad, especially in Latin America (Chapter II); the provision of American books and journals to foreign institutions (Chapter VII); and support for professional training through the exchange of persons and the creation of library schools abroad (Chapter VIII). The narrative progresses from the initial focus on Latin America (Chapter II) to the next major area of operations, China (Chapter V), and then to the European theater (Chapter VI). Chapters III and IX mark important turning points in the study: the beginning of World War II, which provided the impetus for an expanded ALA program, and the end of the war, which resulted in the program's deceleration, finally leading to the closing of the ALA's International Relations Office opened in 1943.

The study relies heavily on archival materials, especially previously untapped holdings from the ALA Archives located at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, but also material from the National Archives, the Washington National Records Center, and the Rockefeller Archive. Two appendices complete the study: a list of the ALA's major international projects between 1938 and 1949; and the Charter for the Benjamin Franklin Library in Mexico City.

MPACT Scores for Gary Edward Kraske

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:01:56

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Students under Gary Edward Kraske

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None