The Center for Middletown Studies, Ball State University, will host the Library Circulation Histories Workshop in 2021. Originally scheduled for 2020, it has been postponed because of the pandemic.  Please check back here soon for the new schedule. 

Over the past two decades, a number of projects have assembled a rich body of evidence derived from historical library circulation records that capture the borrowing choices of thousands of ordinary people. The planned Workshop, supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute for Museum and Library Services, will bring together researchers from the U.S., Europe, and Australia who are engaged in these efforts.  Its aim is to define best practices for making circulation data more accessible and more analytically powerful.  The Workshop’s format, which we expect will blend virtual and in-person activities, includes short presentations about current and new projects employing library circulation records or related material and broader discussions of the challenges and opportunities these resources present.

The Center for Middletown Studies launched the What Middletown Read database in 2011 and has since sponsored a variety of scholarly work related to the history of reading. The Workshop continues those efforts and further details will be available via the Center’s website. Please direct questions to James Connolly, Director of the Center for Middletown Studies (jconnoll@bsu.edu).