The Library Quarterly

Until 2013, the covers of the journal featured emblems from booksellers or printers. Featured in every issue was a study of the particular emblem that focuses on the typographer, dealer, seller, and designer. As of 1975, 176 prints had been displayed on the journal's cover.{{cite journal |last1=Sharpe |first1=John L. III |date=January 1978 |title=An Index to Printers' Marks in The Library Quarterly |journal=The Library Quarterly |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=40–59 |doi=10.1086/629994 |jstor=4306898 |s2cid=147588501}} Noting the dated appearance of the journal covers, it was decided that part of the overall changes implemented would include a new cover without the emblems. Instead of completely removing these illustrations and the accompanying "The Cover Design" feature after 80 years, the journal renamed the entry "History of the Book" to continue the practice.{{Cite journal |last=Bertot |first=John Carlo |last2=Jaeger |first2=Paul T. |last3=Kettnich |first3=Karen |last4=Gannett |first4=Leahkim |date=2013 |title="Research Formerly Known as ‘L’: Library Quarterly in the Twenty-First Century, Part 2.” |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/668583 |journal=Library Quarterly |volume=83 |issue=1 |pages=4}} The University of Florida libraries provide digital access to printers' devices, including those that appeared on the cover of The Library Quarterly.{{cite web |title=Printer's Devices |url=http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/rarebook/devices/device.htm |accessdate=2013-07-16 |publisher=University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries}}

The Library Quarterly was established in January 1931, the year that Lee Pierce Butler joined the University of Chicago Graduate Library School, which was where library science as the academic study of the relationship between books and users was originally conceived. Thus, its publication history parallels the existence of library science as a field of academic research. Carnovsky Leon. 1955. “The Library Quarterly: 1931-55.” The Library Quarterly i The emergence of a journal devoted expressly to research in library science was met with conflict in the discipline according to the journal's first editor, William M. Randall. The controversy revolved around whether research and scientific method was needed in the field. The Quarterly continued publication after the Graduate Library School closed in 1989.

Howard W. Winger was managing editor from 1961 through 1972, in 1975, from 1980 through 1985 and from 1988 through 1989. More than 50 of his essays (particularly those on 16th-century printers' devices) appeared in The Library Quarterly.{{cite journal |url=http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/950309/winger.shtml |title=Obituary: Howard Winger, Graduate Library School |journal=University of Chicago Chronicle |date=March 9, 1995 |volume=14 |issue=13 |accessdate=2013-03-22}} When editorship was taken over by Steven P. Harter in 1990 Winger wrote a history of the journal's editorial boards.Winger, Howard Woodrow. 1990. "A Salute to Past Editorial Boards." Library Quarterly 60 (October): 289–99.

In 2002 editor, John V. Richardson, analyzed the peer review process in place at The Library Quarterly.Richardson, John V. 2002. "The Peer Review Process: Acceptances, Revisions, and Outright Rejections." Library Quarterly 72 (1): v–xi.

A bibliometric analysis in 2006 on the 75th anniversary of the journal found that nearly 50% of the world's most cited library and information scientists were contributors.Arthur P. Young. 2006. "Library Quarterly, 1956-2004: An Exploratory Bibliometric Analysis." Library Quarterly 76 (1): 10–18

In 2004 The Library Quarterly went online, adding additional articles, content, and unique supplements. Online features also include most accessed and most cited articles.{{cite journal |last1=Bertot |first1=John Carlo |first2=Wayne A. |last2=Wiegand |title=The Library Quarterly Goes Online |jstor=10.1086/421726 |journal=The Library Quarterly |volume=74 |issue=2 |date=April 2004 |pages=97–98 |doi=10.1086/421726 |s2cid=144625598 }}

A new team of editors, Editorial Board, and a new Reviews Committee were added in 2016.Jaeger, P. T., Taylor, N. G., Gorham, U., Sarin, L. C., Peterson, K. J., & Kettnich, K. (2015). "85 Years of Library Quarterly". The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, 85(1), 1–5.

In the first issue of the 91st volume, the editors identified significant national and international events occurring during publication, including the establishment of the journal during the time of The Great Depression, World War II prior to the ten year anniversary, and the United States entering the war just after that milestone. At the time this volume was released, having passed its 90th year in publication, the world was experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite journal |last=Jaeger |first=Paul T. |last2=Greene Taylor |first2=Natalie |last3=Gorham |first3=Ursula |last4=Kettnich |first4=Karen |date=2021 |title=The Light, of Course, in the Library: Pandemic, Protests, and Being What the Community Most Needs |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/711629 |journal=Library Quarterly |volume=91 |issue=1 |pages=1-2}}

As of 2025, the journal reached its 95th year, making it one of the oldest scholarly publications on the subject of libraries. Over the past nine decades, the journal has documented libraries and their roles during historic moments, and the evolution of the practices, technologies, and diverse topics relating to the field.{{Cite journal |last=Jaeger |first=Paul T. |last2=Kettnich |first2=Karen |date=2024 |title=95 Years of Library Quarterly, 95 Years in the Life of Librarianship |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/733174 |journal=Library Quarterly |volume=95 |issue=1 |pages=1}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Official website|http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/lq}}
• [https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/richardson/lqcovers.htm Index of The Library Quarterly covers, 1931 to date]

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Category:Quarterly journals

Category:Library science journals

Category:University of Chicago Press academic journals

Category:English-language journals

Category:Academic journals established in 1931

Category:1931 establishments in Illinois