A Library Primer illustration Joined Hand

Library hand is a rounded style of handwriting once taught in

library school Education for librarianship, including for paraprofessional library workers, varies around the world, and has changed over time. In recent decades, many institutions offering librarianship education have changed their names to reflect the shift from ...

s. The intention was to ensure uniformity and legibility in the handwritten cards of library catalogs. Beginning in September 1885, Melvil Dewey and

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...

developed and perfected the approved library hand to be taught in

and used in

libraries A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...

. The penmanship was based on Edison's own handwriting in which he stated that "I had perfected a style of handwriting which would allow me to take legibly from the wire, long hand, forty-seven and even fifty-four words a minute". The 1903 Handbook of the New York State Library School listed the requirements of library hand. They included legibility, speed, and uniformity. The particular type of ink, inkstands, pens, penholders, and erasers was specified. The standards for lettering were dictated in regard to size, slant, spacing, special letters and figures, and even the proper posture and position of the writer was outlined.History of the card catalog
, Library and Information Science Wiki The teaching of library hand declined after the widespread introduction of the

typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...

in the early 20th century.

References

External links

Examples of library hand

File This Under Nostalgia: New Book Pays Tribute To The Library Card Catalog

Jayne Ringrose, ''The Library Hand''

Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...

Special Collections blog, 13 June 2013
''Library handwriting: a guide for the use of students in the New York State Library School'' (The University of the State of New York, 1916)
digitised by Connecticut State Library
Dana Library Hand
— scalable font family based on John Cotton Dana's Disjoined Hand sample, by

Margo Burns Margo Burns is a historian (A.B., Mount Holyoke College, 1980, M.A., University of New Hampshire, 1991) specializing in the Salem witch trials and related events, especially those in North Andover. She is an Associate Editor and Project Manager of ...

Library science Penmanship Western calligraphy {{writingsystem-stub