Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont Pitzer Senior Theses Pitzer Student Scholarship 2011 The deI a of the Public Library in the United States: Why is it Important? Ruth Bernstein Pitzer College Recommended Citation Bernstein, Ruth, "The deI a of the Public Library in the United States: Why is it Important?" (2011). Pitzer Senior Theses. Paper 45. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/pitzer_theses/45 This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Pitzer Student Scholarship at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pitzer Senior Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. The Idea of the Public Library in the United States: Why is it Important? by Ruth Bernstein A THESIS SUBMITTED TO PITZER COLLEGE IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ANTHROPOLOGY MAJOR CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA May 2011 © Ruth Bernstein, 2011 1 Acknowledgements I feel very fortunate to have had three such obliging thesis readers. I was the recipient of much more than occasional guidance and the help provided by these people made this work possible. My academic advisor Professor Leda Leitao Martins helped me with great overall guidance and support during the past year. Thank you for the excellent attention and advice on the varied course that this thesis took. Professor Claudia Strauss made an enormous amount of time for me and I was honored by the thoroughness she gave my writing. Professor Brent Armendinger gave me his thoughtful and valuable perspective on the nuances of the subject matter. Thank you also to Scripps Professors Lara Deeb and Anthony Shenoda who both gave me much of their time and great ideas during the two semesters of Senior Seminar.