Project partners
Christopher Phillips, Associate Professor of English
Paul Miller, Visual Resource Curator
Anna Malantonio, Digital Library Developer
James Griffin, Co-Director of Digital Scholarship Services, through June 2017
Eric Luhrs, Director of Digital Scholarship Services, through October 2017
Project description
Anchored in archival research undertaken by Dr. Phillips, the Easton Library Company Database represents a partnership between the College and the Easton Area Public Library. The database developed by DSS features digitized and transcribed records from the Easton Library Company, a subscription library that served residents of Easton, Pennsylvania from 1811 to 1862. At the center of this project is a series of folio-size ledgers, held by Easton Area Public Library, documenting loans made to patrons for more than fifty years. These records offer a uniquely detailed history of reading habits in an early 19th century American city. In electronic form, the loan records give us a better understanding of how the reading habits of early citizens of Easton may have shaped the politics, education, and culture of the city over a hundred years ago.