To Reposition a Research Agenda: What American Studies Can Teach the Lis Community about the Library in the Life of the User

American libraries do three things very well: (1) they make information accessible to millions of people on many subjects; (2) they provide tens of thousands of places where patrons can meet formally as clubs or groups, or informally as citizens and students utilizing a civic institution and a cultural agency; and (3) they furnish billions of reading materials to millions of patrons. For generations, the Library and Information Studies (LIS) community has devoted most of its attention to the first, but currently it is poorly positioned to undertake research on the second and third. American Studies, on the other hand, is well placed to address the second and third, but has largely overlooked American public, school, and academic libraries as subjects of study. This essay invites American Studies scholars to develop an LIS subspecialty in order to help the American library community better understand its present, so that it can more prudently plan its future.