LIBRARIES AND COOPERATIVE EXTENSION –

A SHARED HISTORY AND MISSION

Cristina Caminita, Agriculture/Information Literacy LibrarianJessica Lacher-Feldman, Head of Special CollectionsLSU Libraries

WHAT IS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION?

Part of the mission of the Land Grant Universities established with the Morrill Act of 1862. Established to educate citizens in

agriculture, engineering, sciences, military science, and the mechanical arts, “without excluding . . . classical studies”

Land-grant institutions "extend" their resources, solving public issues with college or university resources through non-formal, non-credit programming.

Smith Lever Act of 1914 established Extension .

WHERE IS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION?

Programs are designed, delivered, and, administered through the LSU AgCenter and its parish and regional offices Louisiana Cooperative Extension

Service

https://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/parishes/

ORIGINS OF COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

Even though the Smith Lever Act established Cooperative Extension at the land grants in 1914, bringing research and information to the people has a long history in Louisiana.

With the establishment of the Agricultural Research Stations in the 1890s (first was the Sugar Research Station, originally located at Audubon Park in New Orleans), researchers were charged with bringing their knowledge to the people.

This was done at Farmer’s Institutes across the state.

Professors at LSU and the Research Stations would donate their time during the summers to teach at state fairs and other organized events.

http://cdm16313.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/LSU_UAP/id/2866/rec/5

ORIGINS OF COOPERATIVE EXTENSIONIn the early 1900s, Seaman Knapp at LSU formed various farming clubs to promote research findings and to distribute seeds strains of corn, wheat, sugar, etc., to the people of the state.

This “demonstration” style method that Knapp developed would become the standard for delivering information to the public.

Knapp‘s demonstration organizations set the stage for the development of Smith Lever, and became the model upon which Cooperative Extension programs in the US were built. http://ereserves.mcneese.edu/depts/archive/Encyclo/SeamanAKnapp.jpg

EARLY EXTENSION EFFORTS

EARLY EXTENSION EFFORTS

EARLY EXTENSION EFFORTS

EARLY EXTENSION EFFORTS

SCOPE OF COOPERATIVE EXTENSION

4-H

Agriculture

Leadership Development

Natural Resources

Family and Consumer Sciences

Community and Economic Development

Pest management

Rural development – broadband access (the digital divide)

Coast and environment

Home gardening

Home food businesses

Early childhood education

Family nutrition

Public health programs and services

Conservation

Personal finance

Farmer’s markets

THE PROGRESSIVE ERA AND EDUCATIONEarly 20th century (1890-1920)

Emphasis on modern adult education

Education as a way to create a stronger and more equitable society

“The democracy which proclaims equality of opportunity as its ideals requires an education in which learning and social application, ideas and practice, work and recognition of the meaning of what is done, are united from the beginning and for all.” Dewey and Dewey, Schools of Tomorrow (1915)

THE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT AND EDUCATIONFour broad precepts:

1. There is no end to education.

2. Learning is lifelong.

3. Education happens best when circumstances and experience meet.

4. Highest valued resource is the learner’s experience.

E. C. Lindeman, The Meaning of Education (1926)

https://archive.org/details/meaningofadulted00lind

LIBRARIES IN THE PROGRESSIVE ERAThe Progressive Era was the time in which public libraries became established within communities, and in turn strengthened communities, particularly in rural areas.

Mevil Dewey extended brick and mortar libraries to traveling libraries (first book mobilies) into rural communities.

http://www.libraryhistorybuff.org/traveling-us.htm

LIBRARIES IN THE PROGRESSIVE ERAAndrew Carnegie built 1,689 libraries in the United States between 1883-1929.

Most were public, some were academic.

9 were built in Louisiana.

This is the Algiers Point Public Library (ca. 1907). It’s still operating as part of the New Orleans Public Library system.

http://nutrias.org/exhibits/algiers/algierspoint2.jpg

CELEBRATING SMITH LEVER – A LIBRARIAN AND AN EXTENSION AGENT WALK INTO A BAR(N) . . .Agriculture librarian had been thinking about doing some sort of exhibit on Agriculture at LSU since she started her appointment in August of 2011.

Lucky for her, the Smith Lever Act celebrates its centennial this year.

Working with LSU Special Collections to curate an exhibit on Smith Lever at LSU.

Working with the T. Harry Williams Oral History Center to interview CES faculty, staff,

OUTREACH AND COLLECTION DEVELOPMENTAg focus: Subject Librarian works with her faculty and staff in the College of Agriculture and the AgCenter to promote library services.

We develop the collection through:

Collecting oral history interviews.

Digitizing parts of the collection.

Meeting with various stakeholders who may want to donate their materials to Special Collections.

http://www.louisianadigitallibrary.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/LSU_UAP/id/2448/rec/19

UNIVERSITY AND PUBLIC AS STAKEHOLDERThe history of LSU is, in many ways, the history of the modernization of agriculture in the state of Louisiana.

Collecting, collocating, and making this history accessible to all through LSU Libraries benefits the University and public.

STRENGTHENING TIES BETWEEN THE LIBRARIES AND THE AGCENTERLSU Libraries has focused on supporting the research, teaching, and service missions of the College of Agriculture.

Historically, the LSU AgCenterhas been included in Agriculture liaison responsibilities, but has not been a priority for agriculture liaisons past.

The Smith Lever projects have created relationships, opportunities, and possibilities.

RE-ITERATING THE SHARED HISTORY AND MISSION OF LIBRARIES AND COOPERATIVE EXTENSIONLSU Libraries serves the academic, research, and service missions of the University. By extending our resources and services to the AgCenter, and to the larger public, we are fulfilling our goals and objectives as academic library at a Land Grant institution.

The AgCenter continues to extend its resources and services to every parish in the state. By supporting their efforts, we participate in those efforts. http://cdm16313.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/p16313coll50/id/1121/rv/compoundobject/cpd/1385

RESOURCES – COOPERATIVE EXTENSIONExtension History at the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/qlinks/extension.html

History of the LSU Extension Service: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/our_offices/parishes/Richland/News/History+of+LSU+Extension+Service.htm

Extension’s First Demonstrator: Seaman A. Knapp: http://okeechobee.ifas.ufl.edu/Knapp.pdf

Seaman A. Knapp Collection at McNeese: http://ereserves.mcneese.edu/depts/archive/knapp009.htm

RESOURCES – PROGRESSIVE ERA IN THE UNITED STATESProgressive Era to New Era, 1900-1929, at the Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/topics/content.php?subcat=10

Progressive Era to the Jazz Age, 1890-1920, at St. Louis University: http://libguides.slu.edu/progressive_era

Primary Resources: Progressive Era, at the University of Virginia Miller Center:

http://millercenter.org/academic/dgs/primaryresources/progressive_era

RESOURCES – HISTORY OF UNITED STATES LIBRARIESCarnegie Corporation of New York: http://carnegie.org/about-us/foundation-history/about-andrew-carnegie/carnegie-for-kids/libraries/

Andrew Carnegie, Philanthropist, at America’s Library: http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/carnegie/aa_carnegie_phil_1.html

Dewey, Melvil, and Myrtilla Avery. 1901. Traveling Libraries: Field and Future of Traveling Libraries,. Albany: University of the state of New York. (available online through Google Books)

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hall, Peter Dobkin. 1996. “‘To Make Us Bold and Learn to Read: To Be Friends to Each Other, and Friends to the World’: Libraries and the Origins of Civil Society in the United States.” Libraries & Culture, no. 1: 14. doi:10.2307/25548420.

Tancheva, K., M. Cook, and H. Raskin. 2005. “Serving the Public: The Academic Library and Cooperative Extension.” Journal of Extension.

Zacharakis, Jeff. 2008. “Extension and Community: The Practice of Popular and Progressive Education.” New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education 2008 (117): 13–23. doi:10.1002/ace.282.