Bøker i Iowa and the Midwest Experience Series-serien

In Iowa Past to Present, originally published in 1989, Dorothy Schwieder, Thomas Morain, and Lynn Nielsen combine their extensive knowledge of Iowa's history with years of experience addressing the educational needs of elementary and middle-school students. Their skillful and accessible narrative brings alive the people and events that populate Iowa's rich heritage. This revised edition brings the story into the twenty-first century.

Examines four emblematic small-town libraries in the US Midwest from the late nineteenth century through the federal Library Service Act of 1956, and shows that these institutions served a much different purpose than is so often perceived. Rather than acting as neutral institutions that are vital to democracy, these libraries were actually mediating community literary values and providing a public space for the construction of social harmony.