ABSTRACT
Connecting people to books and information was a key issue in the post–Second World War world, a world in which education was seen as the primary way for nations to progress and to participate actively in their communities. Library globalization was seen as necessary to achieve the connection of people and knowledge. Building libraries, training librarians, and creating collections were all ways to achieve this globalization of the library. Librarians worked together to develop library services and to create a global profession; they were inspired by a desire to further the cause of world peace, forge international relationships, and to help developing nations. Readers, too, often embraced the library on their own terms, using the texts contained within them for whatever purposes suited them regardless of the intention of those who created and curated the collections. Many more stories remain to be told about library internationalism and international library development work, especially as practiced through the twentieth century.
