Public libraries, though increasingly overlooked, are pivotal spaces for Midwestern communities. Public libraries are fundamental institutions for those in their community and have consistently remained this way, due to the safety they provide as constant outlets for public life. Established in the late 1800s, the emerging public library system developed itself with the foundational goal of reforming society and addressing issues of “public vice” such as “drinking, gambling, and prostitution” (Goldstein 214). The following research discusses public libraries and librarians' continuous support for the moral health of society and how the public library has influenced Midwestern literary careers, specifically that of author Floyd Dell. Furthermore, the cultural representation of the librarian as a maternal stereotype will be highlighted, and shown to be challenged through the characterization of Helen Raymond in Floyd Dell’s Moon-Calf and The Briary Bush.
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