Created by Florida State Universty Library School

Florida State College for Women (later Florida State University) President Doak S. Campbell hired Dr. Louis Shores in 1946 as the dean of FSU's library school, which opened in late 1947. At Mrs. Doak S. Campbell's request, Dr. Shores advocated a Home Reading Course for the Women's Clubs in Florida. She felt this was necessary because most of these clubs did not have library services and the public libraries that existed in the late 1940s and early 1950s were located in large Florida cities.

According to Dr. Mary Alice Hunt, who taught at the Library School, Shores, in 1952, developed a selected, annotated reading list covering over twenty subject areas. Some of the subjects on the list included biography, fiction, Florida history, the sciences, and the world's "great novels." Shores obtained the funding from President Campbell to purchase five copies of each book on the list and to cover the mailing costs, cataloging, library supplies, and necessary equipment. The Home Reading Course was administered by the Library School and the collection was housed in Shores' administrative offices.

Women across Florida received copies of the reading list. If they read at least one book from ten different subject areas on the list, they received a Reading Certificate with a hand-lettered name and date. Those who lived in Tallahassee, FL could walk in and check out books. All books were cataloged and had a two-card circulation system. Books circulated for a period of up to two months and could be renewed.

Dr. Hunt noted that one of the books on the list under the "Florida" subject heading was Over the Blue Wall, by Etta Lane Matthews. Matthews was hired in 1929 by Louise Richardson, Florida State College for Women's (FSCW) first library director, to teach library science courses and was listed as an instructor. Matthews taught at FSCW through the early 1940s. Her book was published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1937.

After Dr. Campbell retired in 1957, the collection was broken up and offered to various libraries and to the faculty and staff at the Library School.

From the guide to the Florida State University Library School Home Reading Courses Collection, 1914-1990, (Repository Unknown)