1961 US Commission on Civil Rights Report Book 2 - University of ...

three Negro students from Virginia State College requested service in
a section reserved for whites; whereupon the city manager closed the
library until court determination of the validity of the restrictive provisions
of the deed. 30
The cases of the n sit-down students who, after conviction, had
appealed to the Petersburg Hustings Court, were dismissed. And while
the suit to desegregate the library was pending in the Federal court, the
Council, in a surprise move, voted unanimously to reopen the public
library on a desegregated basis. 81
In Lenoir, North Carolina, six Negro pupils who sought to use the
all-white Caldwell County Library met no opposition. 82
RURAL LIBRARIES
As indicated in Part III of this report, a 1960 field survey conducted
by <strong>Commission</strong> investigators in 21 selected Black Belt counties 83 located
in 9 Southern States showed that 5 of them, each with a Negro
population ranging from 50 to 71 percent, maintain no libraries at all.
One of these, in cooperation with 2 adjoining counties, has separate
bookmobile service for each race. 84 Twelve of the remaining 17 Black
Belt counties surveyed (located in Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, South
Carolina and Tennessee) have libraries only for whites—in some cases
2 per county. In the other 5 counties separate libraries are maintained
for whites and Negroes but the Negro branches have only about half as
many books as the white branch and are open fewer hours—from 9 to 18
per week, as compared with 27 to 4o. 85
The <strong>Commission</strong>'s survey of public libraries in Southern rural communities
participating in the Federal Library Services (LSA) program,
discussed below, 88 revealed that among these 21 Black Belt counties, 6
were serviced by regional libraries which participate in the program.
Three are in Georgia, i in North Carolina and 2 in Mississippi.
Among the Georgia counties i had no library at all but was serviced
by 2 segregated bookmobiles, another had a white only library and no
service for Negroes; the third had a white only library and 2 segregated
bookmobiles.
The 2 Black Belt counties in Mississippi that are serviced by an LSA
regional library had i and 2 libraries respectively for whites, and none
for Negroes. The North Carolina Black Belt county serviced by a
regional library, has segregated branches for whites and Negroes. The
<strong>Commission</strong>'s questionnaire completed by regional library officials indicates
that reference books at each white branch are approximately
550, at each Negro branch approximately 200; that circulating books
143