History of libraries
Part of a series on |
Library and information science |
---|
The history of libraries began with the first efforts to organize collections of
Early libraries
The first libraries consisted of
Things were very similar in the government and temple records on papyrus of Ancient Egypt.[2] The earliest discovered private archives were kept at Ugarit; besides correspondence and inventories, texts of myths may have been standardized practice-texts for teaching new scribes.
Over 30,000 clay tablets from the
The tablets were stored in various containers, such as wooden boxes, woven baskets of reeds, or clay shelves. The "libraries" were cataloged using colophons, which are a publisher's imprint on the spine of a book, or in this case, a tablet. The colophons stated the series name, the title of the tablet, and any extra information the scribe needed to indicate. Eventually, the clay tablets were organized by subject and size. Due to limited bookshelf space older tablets were removed, which is why some were missing from the excavated cities in Mesopotamia.[10]
According to the legend, mythical philosopher Laozi was the keeper of books in the earliest library in China, which belonged to the Imperial Zhou dynasty.[11] Also, evidence of catalogs found in some destroyed ancient libraries illustrates the presence of librarians.[11]
Classical period
Persia at the time of the
In 1933
Some scholars believed that massive resources of archives and resources in different streams of science were transferred from Persia's main libraries to Egypt upon the conquest of
Less historically tested claims have also reported a sizeable building in Isfahan, Jey, named Sarouyeh, which was being used by Iran's ancient dynasties to store collections of precious books and manuscripts.[15] At least three Islamic scholars, al-Biruni, Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi, and Hamza al-Isfahani, have named this hidden library in their works. The same references claimed that this treasury was discovered in early Islam and the valuable books were selected, baled[clarification needed], and transferred to Baghdad for later reading and translating. As reported by observers, at the time of unearthing the archive, the manuscripts' alphabet was entirely unknown to that ordinary people.[15][16][17]
The
The
Private or personal libraries made up of written books (as opposed to the state or institutional records kept in archives) appeared in classical Greece in the 5th century BC. The celebrated book collectors of
In the West, the first public libraries were established under the
Two more libraries were added by the
Unlike the Greek libraries, readers had direct access to the scrolls, which were kept on shelves built into the walls of a large room. Reading or copying was normally done in the room itself. The surviving records give only a few instances of lending features. Most of the large
Libraries were filled with
In 213 BC during the reign of Emperor
The Ming Dynasty in 1407 founded the imperial library, the Wen Yuan Pavilion. It also sponsored the massive compilation of the Yongle Encyclopedia, containing 11,000 volumes including copies of over 7000 books. It was soon destroyed, but similar very large compilations appeared in 1725 and 1772.
Late antiquity
In Persia, collection of books once again attracted both rulers and priests throughout the
During the Late Antiquity and Middle Ages periods, there was no Rome of the kind that ruled the Mediterranean for centuries and spawned the culture that produced twenty-eight public libraries in the urbs Roma.[37] The empire had been divided then later re-united again under Constantine the Great who moved the capital of the Roman Empire in 330 AD to the city of Byzantium which was renamed Constantinople.[38] The Roman intellectual culture that flourished in ancient times was undergoing a transformation as the academic world moved from laymen to Christian clergy.[39] As the West crumbled, books and libraries flourished and flowed east toward the Byzantine Empire.[40] There, four different types of libraries were established: imperial, patriarchal, monastic, and private.[41] Each had its own purpose and, as a result, their survival varied.
Christianity was a new force in Europe and many of the faithful saw Hellenistic culture as pagan. As such, many classical Greek works, written on scrolls, were left to decay as only Christian texts were thought fit for preservation in a codex, the progenitor of the modern book.[42] In the East, however, this was not the case as many of these classical Greek and Roman texts were copied.[43][page needed] "[F]ormerly paper was rare and expensive, so every spare page of available books was pressed into use. Thus a seventeenth-century edition of the Ignatian epistles, in Mar Saba, had copied onto its last pages, probably in the early eighteenth century, a passage allegedly from the letters of Clement of Alexandria".[44] Old manuscripts were also used to bind new books because of the costs associated with paper and also because of the scarcity of new paper.
In Byzantium, much of this work devoted to preserving Hellenistic thought in codex form was performed in
When Europe passed into the Dark Ages, Byzantine scriptoriums laboriously preserved Greco-Roman classics. As a result, Byzantium revived Classical models of education and libraries.[48] The Imperial Library of Constantinople was an important depository of ancient knowledge. Constantine himself wanted such a library but his short rule denied him the ability to see his vision to fruition. His son Constantius II made this dream a reality and created an imperial library in a portico of the royal palace.[49] He ruled for 24 years and accelerated the development of the library and the intellectual culture that came with such a vast accumulation of books.[50]
Constantius II appointed Themistius, a pagan philosopher and teacher, as chief architect of this library building program. Themistius set about a bold program to create an imperial public library that would be the centerpiece of the new intellectual capital of Constantinople.[51] Classical authors such as Plato, Aristotle, Demosthenes, Isocrates, Thucydides, Homer, and Zeno were sought. Themeistius hired calligraphers and craftsman to produce the actual codices. He also appointed educators and created a university-like school centered around the library.[52]
After the death of Constantius II,
At its height in the 5th century, the Imperial Library of Constantinople had 120,000 volumes and was the largest library in Europe.[54] A fire in 477 consumed the entire library but it was rebuilt only to be burned again in 726, 1204, and in 1453 when Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks.[55]
Patriarchal libraries fared no better, and sometimes worse, than the Imperial Library. The Library of the Patriarchate of Constantinople was founded most likely during the reign of Constantine the Great in the 4th century.
During this period, small private libraries existed. Many of these were owned by church members and the aristocracy.[59] Teachers also were known to have small personal libraries as well as wealthy bibliophiles who could afford the highly ornate books of the period.[60]
Thus, in the 6th century, at the close of the Classical period, the great libraries of the Mediterranean world remained those of Constantinople and Alexandria. Cassiodorus, minister to Theodoric, established a monastery at Vivarium in the toe of Italy (modern Calabria) with a library where he attempted to bring Greek learning to Latin readers and preserve texts both sacred and secular for future generations. As its unofficial librarian, Cassiodorus not only collected as many manuscripts as he could, he also wrote treatises aimed at instructing his monks in the proper uses of reading and methods for copying texts accurately. In the end, however, the library at Vivarium was dispersed and lost within a century.
Through
Islamic intervention
The need for the preservation of the Quran and the Traditions of Muhammad is what primarily inspired Muslims to develop collections of writings. Mosques that were playing a central role in Muslims' day-to-day life gradually welcomed incorporated libraries that stored and preserved all types of knowledge, from devotional books like Quran to books on philosophy, geography and science.
The centrality of the Qurʾān as the prototype of the written word in Islam bears significantly on the role of books within its intellectual tradition and educational system.[61] An early impulse in Islam was to manage reports of events, key figures and their sayings and actions. Thus, "the onus of being the last 'People of the Book' engendered an ethos of librarianship"[62] early on and the establishment of important book repositories throughout the Muslim world have occurred ever since.
By the 8th century China's art of papermaking was acquired by Iranians and then developed across the whole Muslim world.[63] From the art, Muslims developed papermaking into an industry.[63] As a result of this technical enhancement, the books were more easily manufactured and they were more broadly accessible. Coincided with the encouragement of science and a breakthrough in the translation movement, public and private libraries started to boost all around Islamic lands. "libraries (royal, public, specialized, private) had become common and bookmen (authors, translators, copiers, illuminators, librarians, booksellers' collectors) from all classes and sections of society, of all nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, vied with each other in the production and distribution of books."[64]
A series of outstanding libraries within the Islamic territories were founded and flourished alongside the Islam spread.
The Fatimids (r. 909–1171) and their successors at Alamut also possessed many great libraries within their domains, attracting scholars from every creed and origin. The historian Ibn Abi Tayyi' describes the Fatimid palace library, which probably contained the largest trove of literature on earth at the time, as a "wonder of the world". Similarly, at the torching of the Alamut library, the conqueror Juwayni boasts that its fame "had spread throughout the world".[68]
Through these major knowledge expansion, libraries transformed into vibrant centers of the Islamic communities. These knowledge sharing centers were being attended constantly by varied patrons from mature scholars and enthusiastic students to poets and courtiers. Major libraries often employed translators and copyists in large numbers, in order to render into
At the time even local rulers demonstrated their passion for knowledge by designing and developing public libraries that could stand out in both aesthetic features and creating a space that maximizes the patrons' comfort. Al-Maqdisi, a Muslim Geographer, once got stunned by stepping into one of these well-designed libraries in Shiraz:
a complex of buildings surrounded by gardens with lakes and waterways. The buildings were topped with domes, and comprised an upper and a lower storey with a total, according to the chief official, of 360 rooms....In each department, catalogues were placed on a shelf... the rooms were furnished with carpets...[69]
Though this flowering of Islamic learning ceased centuries later when learning began declining in the
The contents of these Islamic libraries were copied by Christian monks in Muslim/Christian border areas, particularly Spain and Sicily. From there they eventually made their way into other parts of Christian Europe. These copies joined works that had been preserved directly by Christian monks from Greek and Roman originals, as well as copies Western Christian monks made of Byzantine works. The resulting conglomerate libraries are the basis of every modern library today.
Prominent libraries throughout the Islamic lands
- Bait al Hikma (House of Wisdom) or Khizana al Hikma (Treasury of Wisdom)- Baghdad -9th Century: Al-Ma'mun, the seventh Abbasid caliph founded a splendid science center consisting of an observatory for astrologists and a rich library with some very rare and precious resources. Many of those resources were on other and older cultures, thus far, translation was the cornerstone of the institution with professional translators working on Greek, Persian, Indian and Syriac materials.[71]
- Yahya ibn Abi Mansur (Ibn Munajem) Library- 9th century: As a Khalifah's Chief Astrologer, he was the owner of a luxurious palace containing a tremendous library with numerous books in different sets of disciplines and science, in particular, astrology. This library was called "Treasury of Wisdom" or "Khazanah Al-Hekmah".[72]
- Nuh Ibn Mansour Samani Library- Bukhara-10th century: Samanid Empire rulers were famous for showing a considerable passion for culture and science and their consistent support for promoting libraries. Nuh II had a sizable library. Avicenna who was one of the visitors to Mansour's library in Bukhara has described it as extraordinary in terms of the number of volumes and the value of books. Looking for a certain item in medicine, he requested an entry permit from the Sultan to browse the library storage space. The book stack had been composed of plenty of rooms, each room had contained numerous boxes and each box had been filled with stacks of books as he reported.[66]
- Baha al-Dowleh and Azod al-Dowleh Daylami Library-Shiraz- 10th century: These regional rulers from Iranian al-Muqaddasi, a reputable Islamic historian and geographer, a copy of each and every book he had ever seen during his life and travels, all were presented in Azod al-Dowleh library.[73]
- The Library of Abu-Nasr Shapur Ibn Ardeshir- Baghdad- 10th century: Abu-Nasr who was a Daylamites' Minister, founded a mega well-known public library in Baghdad that is claimed to hold 10 thousand volumes.[75][73][76] The library was destroyed during Baghdad's big fire.
- Grand Vizier to Buyid rulers established a legendary public library holding around 200,000 volumes. Ibn Abbad who was so proud of this great collection of books once refused the invitation of Samanid rulers to become their Grand Vizier in Bukhara, giving the excuse of attachment to his books that would need around 400 camels to carry on. The library was partially destroyed in 1029 by the troops of the Ghaznavids.[77] As evidence to a large amount of the resources, some scholars claimed that just the library catalogue was equal to 10 volumes.[66]
- Greater Merv or Merv Shahijan set of libraries: Yaqut al-Hamawi, a renowned Moslem bibliographer and geographer, on a way to his continual travels, stopped by Merv and settled there for a while to make the best use of sets of impressive libraries to complement his research studies. He named ten distinct exceptional libraries some are stated to hold more than 12,000 books. Some of Merv's libraries resources were highly unique and precious not to be found anywhere else, as he stated. Patrons could easily check out a large number of items from these book collections. As Hamawi reported he was allowed to keep more than 200 books on a long period loan.[78] Most of these valuable libraries were burnt and ruined by the Mughals.
- Grand Vizier of Sultan Ghazan, was a talented founder of charitable Rab'-e Rashidi Complex and Library. He has elaborated the conditions of using the library resources in a remaining valuable Deed for Endowment (Vaghfnameh) which is of great importance in regards to the applied administrative procedures for running the libraries during the Islamic period:
"This public library (Dar al-Masahef) shall deliver service to researchers for the purpose of studying and copying the resources. Books are allowed to be used within the library. Taking out the library books requires some refundable deposit equates to the half value of the borrowed item. The loan period is not allowed to exceed one month. The borrowed item shall get stamped by the librarian in order to be recognized as the property of the library".[79]
The original Deed manuscript, being kept in National Museum of Tabriz, is now a registered UNESCO World Heritage document[80]
- Ahmad Baba who wrote over 40 manuscripts – widely considered as being one of the most influential scholars from Timbuktu. Many of the manuscripts and buildings were destroyed by the Arab-European invasion in 1591 and writers, such as Ahmad Baba were taken into captivity.[81] Despite this and the poor preservation conditions as many as 700,000 manuscripts still survive today.[82]
- Sufiya Library-Aleppo-one of the oldest mosque libraries was located at the city's Grand Umayyad Mosque, contained a large book collection of which 10,000 volumes were reportedly bequeathed by the city's most famous ruler, Prince Sayf al-Dawla.[83]
They were many other sizable libraries in major Islamic cities, e.g.
.Asia
The spread of religion and philosophy throughout the South and East Asia spurred the development of both writing and books.
The invention of paper in China allowed the Chinese to create an early form of printing (stone-rubbing). Writings the sixth-century philosopher, Confucius, were originally inscribed on stone tablets. To achieve this early form of printing the Chinese would push soft paper onto the stone, apply ink to the back of the sheet, resulting in a black background with white letters.[84] The Chinese also employed inked carved woodblock to produce printed materials. One of the major Buddhist canons, the Tripitaka, was published in 5,000 volumes using more than 130,000 individual woodblocks.[84] In the eleventh century movable type was developed in China and Koreans established the first foundry for producing movable type. In spite of these developments, woodblock printing remained the norm in China, Korea, and Japan. Each ruler in China compiled its own official written archives. Every emperor decided which philosophical texts, which accounts of history, which rituals of faith, and what poetry and literature would be permitted in the empire; oftentimes chronicling their own version of the previous ruler's history. Confucian and Buddhist writings that were brought to Korea and Japan are directly responsible for the continued development of book publishing and library building in East Asia.[84]
European Middle Ages
In the
Despite this protectiveness, many libraries loaned books if provided with security deposits (usually money or a book of equal value). Lending was a means by which books could be copied and spread. In 1212 the council of Paris condemned those monasteries that still forbade loaning books, reminding them that lending is "one of the chief works of mercy."[90] The early libraries located in monastic cloisters and associated with scriptoria were collections of lecterns with books chained to them. Shelves built above and between back-to-back lecterns were the beginning of bookpresses. The chain was attached at the fore-edge of a book rather than to its spine. Book presses came to be arranged in carrels (perpendicular to the walls and therefore to the windows) in order to maximize lighting, with low bookcases in front of the windows. This "stall system" (i.e. fixed bookcases perpendicular to exterior walls pierced by closely spaced windows) was characteristic of English institutional libraries. In European libraries, bookcases were arranged parallel to and against the walls. This "wall system" was first introduced on a large scale in Spain's El Escorial.
Book production was relegated almost exclusively to the larger monasteries, where both monks and lay brothers were copyists and bookbinders. Artists were employed to illuminate pages with elaborate designs, capital letters and pictures. A substantial monastery might have up to 40 scribes at work in the scriptoria; the average scribe would copy two books a year.[91]
The Rule of St. Benedict advised that inventory must be taken of the monastery's possessions, including the books held in the monastic libraries. As a result, the books were cataloged and cared for by the monastic armarius, or librarian. The chief role of the armarius was to organize the use of the library and scriptorium, which involved keeping inventory, inspecting holdings, regulating the use of books, and overseeing the scribes. There are no records to suggest that the inventory or catalog of books followed any formal rules or system. The armarius simply kept inventory lists in order to keep track of what books were part of their collection. The entries on the inventory lists became more complex as time went on from just the author/title/condition of a book to including the portions of the text in order to prevent the volume from being swapped for a less valuable volume. It was intended that the inventory list begin with the Bible, followed by writings of Church Fathers, then works by medieval theologians, ancient authors and finally liberal arts works, however this loose organization system was rarely followed, and it is more likely they were placed in the order the books were displayed in the library reading room. Since there was no definitive way in which the volumes of text were grouped or arranged, users of the library tended to seek help from the armarius instead of locating what they needed on their own.[92]
As extensions of the Catholic Church, medieval libraries' collections often excluded materials considered to be heretical or "pagan", such as the works of Plato and Aristotle.[93]
Also, in
A special case is constituted by the Jewish medieval libraries. In the absence of institutions dedicated to the production and conservation of manuscripts (excepting the yeshivot), the vast majority of Jewish libraries were semiprivate or private.[94]
Renaissance
From the 15th century in central and northern Italy, libraries of
The Hungarian
In the 16th century
This trend soon spread outside of Italy, for example Louis III, Elector Palatine founded the Bibliotheca Palatina of Heidelberg.
These libraries had fewer volumes than modern libraries; but they had many valuable manuscripts of Greek, Latin and Biblical works. After the invention of the printing press, many Renaissance libraries began to collect printed texts of useful information as well as historical manuscripts; this change occurred between about 1550 and 1650. This transition of collections during the Renaissance was not just a shift from manuscripts to printed texts, but also from books as expensive luxury aesthetic artifacts both in print and in manuscript form to an expenditure on multiple copies of printed texts which held valuable, practical information.
Enlightenment era libraries
The 17th and 18th centuries include what is known as a golden age of libraries;[101] during this some of the more important libraries were founded in Europe. Francis Trigge Chained Library of St. Wulfram's Church, Grantham, Lincolnshire was founded in 1598 by the rector of nearby Welbourne.[102] This library is considered the "ancestor of public libraries" because patrons were not required to be members of a particular college or church to use the library.[103] Trigge's library held over 350 books, and his inclusion of both Catholic and Protestant resources is considered unique for the time, since religious conflicts during the Reformation years were common.[103]
Thomas Bodley founded the Bodleian Library, which was open to the "whole republic of the learned", Norwich City library was established in 1608[104] and the British Library was established in 1753. Chetham's Library in Manchester, which claims to be the oldest public library in the English-speaking world, opened in 1653.[105] Other early town libraries of the UK include those of Ipswich (1612), Bristol (founded in 1613 and opened in 1615), and Leicester (1632). Shrewsbury School also opened its library to townsfolk.[106]
A census of libraries in the eighteenth century was produced by Adalbert Blumenschein, a priest, which described libraries in hundreds of cities and towns from almost two dozen European countries or regions.[107]
The
But this golden age was not just some prosaic period of great expansion to the number and accessibility of the libraries of Europe; it was also a period of great conflict.
Often the plunder of this conflict included the recovery of books from looted monasteries and libraries.
In addition to stores of knowledge being shuffled around as spoils of war, the printing press created economies of scale that allowed for the exchange of books to become more commonplace.[84]: 119–120 Book fairs were the most merchants most common choice of sale and catalogs were their most common choice of organization.[84]: 120
The collectors of this period helped shape the 'form' of libraries. We can see echoes of many of their innovations in the tropes of today's libraries. As noted previously, influenced by the ideals of Gabriel Naude, Cardinal Jules Mazarin proclaimed his library "open to everybody without exception".[84]: 122 Also, possibly inspiring a trope, Sir Robert Bruce Cotton organized his library with the placement of busts of ancient Romans at the tops of his shelves, and cataloged his contents alphanumerically based on the name of the shelf (bust) and the book's physical position on the shelf (by number of books preceding it).[84]: 123–124
At the start of the 18th century, libraries were becoming increasingly public and were more frequently lending libraries. The 18th century saw the switch from closed parochial libraries to lending libraries. Before this time, public libraries were parochial in nature and libraries frequently chained their books to desks.[111] Libraries also were not uniformly open to the public.[112]
Even though the British Museum existed at this time and contained over 50,000 books, the national library was not open to the public, or even to a majority of the population. Access to the Museum depended on passes, of which there was sometimes a waiting period of three to four weeks. Moreover, the library was not open to browsing. Once a pass to the library had been issued, the reader was taken on a tour of it. Many readers complained that the tour was much too short.[116]
Although most libraries followed this model of patron restriction, there were exceptions such as the Ducal Library at Wolfenbüttel, which was open every weekday morning and afternoon. The library had a diverse set of patrons of whom a large percentage were middle-class and non-academic users. Between 1714 and 1799, the library loaned 31,485 books, mostly fiction, to 1,648 patrons.[117]
Colonial British America
British America's first institutional library was founded by donations from a Puritan minister, John Harvard. Harvard left his collection of four hundred volumes and his estate to a small seminary now known as Harvard University located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The collection of books helped the seminary find credibility and the library grew to be the largest in British America with 5,000 volumes in 1764. A fire struck later that year and the library was destroyed. The university worked to rebuild the library and the collection after the fire. The library benefited from the Loyalists fleeing Massachusetts after the American Revolutionary War in 1783 and many of the books left behind were donated to the collection[43][page needed] The Harvard Library System now consists of several physical locations and has a combination of over 20 million items in the collection.[118]
Benjamin Franklin helped to establish the first subscription library in Colonial British America. Franklin and many of his friends would meet on Fridays to discuss politics, science, and philosophy. The friends soon established a club and called themselves Junto. The members started sharing and exchanging books with one another. The idea arose and Franklin proposed that the meetings should be in one place where all of their collective books could be housed. In 1731, fifty members contributed money to establish the Library Company of Philadelphia. Members paid an initial fee and then annual dues. The idea of a subscription library was popular and dozens of libraries were established across the colonies. After the American Revolutionary War, the Library Company served members of the United States Congress until the capital of the United States of America was moved to Washington D.C. in 1800.[43][page needed] The current Library Company of Philadelphia is now a research library with a non-circulating collection that is open to the public.[119]
Subscription libraries
At the start of the 19th century, there were virtually no public libraries in the sense in which we now understand the term i.e. libraries provided from public funds and freely accessible to all.[120] Only one important library in Britain, namely Chetham's Library in Manchester, was fully and freely accessible to the public.[120] However, there had come into being a whole network of library provision on a private or institutional basis.
The increase in secular literature at this time encouraged the spread of lending libraries, especially the commercial subscription libraries. Many small, private book clubs evolved into subscription libraries, charging high annual fees or requiring subscribing members to purchase shares in the libraries. The materials available to subscribers tended to focus on particular subject areas, such as biography, history, philosophy, theology, and travel, rather than works of fiction, particularly the novel.
Unlike a
Parochial libraries attached to Anglican parishes or Nonconformist chapels in Britain emerged in the early 18th century, and prepared the way for local public libraries.[123]
The increasing production and demand for fiction promoted by commercial markets led to the rise of circulating libraries, which met a need that subscription libraries did not fulfil. William Bathoe claimed that his commercial venture was 'the Original Circulating library', opening doors at two locations in London in 1737.[124][125] Circulating libraries also charged subscription fees to users and offered serious subject matter as well as the popular novels, thus the difficulty in clearly distinguishing circulating from subscription libraries.[126]
Subscription libraries were democratic in nature; created by and for communities of local subscribers who aimed to establish permanent collections of books and reading materials, rather than selling their collections annually as the circulating libraries tended to do, in order to raise funds to support their other commercial interests. Even though the subscription libraries were often founded by reading societies, committees, elected by the subscribers, chose books for the collection that were general, rather than aimed at a particular religious, political or professional group. The books selected for the collection were chosen because they would be mutually beneficial to the shareholders. The committee also selected the librarians who would manage the circulation of materials.[127]
In Britain there were more than 200 commercial circulating libraries open in 1800, more than twice the number of subscription and private proprietary libraries that were operating at the same time. Many proprietors pandered to the most fashionable clientele, making much ado about the sort of shop they offered, the lush interiors, plenty of room and long hours of service.[124] "These 'libraries' would be called rental collections today."[128]
Private libraries
Private subscription libraries functioned much like commercial subscription libraries, with some variations. One of the most popular versions of the private subscription library was the gentlemen only library. Membership was restricted to the proprietors or shareholders, and ranged from a dozen or two to between four and five hundred.[129]
The Liverpool Subscription library was a gentlemen only library. In 1798, it was renamed the Athenaeum when it was rebuilt with a newsroom and coffeehouse. It had an entrance fee of one guinea and an annual subscription of five shillings.[130] An analysis of the registers for the first twelve years provides glimpses of middle-class reading habits in a mercantile community at this period. The largest and most popular sections of the library were history, antiquities, and geography, with 283 titles and 6,121 borrowings, and belles-lettres, with 238 titles and 3,313 borrowings.[131][132]
Private subscription libraries held a greater amount of control over both membership and the types of books in the library. Cheap fiction was virtually absent.[133] Subscription libraries prided themselves on respectability. The highest percentage of subscribers were often landed proprietors, gentry, and the old professions.[134]
Towards the end of the 18th century and in the first decades of the 19th century the need for books and general education made itself felt among social classes created by the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution.[135] The late 18th century saw a rise in subscription libraries intended for the use of tradesmen. In 1797, there was established at Kendal the Economical Library, "designed principally for the use and instruction of the working classes".[136] There was also the Artizans' library established at Birmingham in 1799. The entrance fee was 3 shillings. The subscription was 1 shilling 6 pence per quarter. This was a library of general literature. Novels, at first excluded, were afterwards admitted on condition that they did not account for more than one-tenth of the annual income.[129]
Benjamin Franklin led the founding of the first American subscription library. In Philadelphia, Franklin formed "a club of mutual improvements" calling themselves the "Junto", which meant a council or a combination of individuals organized for a specific purpose. Because the men in this club had a steady income, they could afford to be a part of this club and to purchase books. Only some had enough to be considered a library; together they shared what they all had.[137]
National libraries
Origins
The first national libraries had their origins in the royal collections of the sovereign or some other supreme body of the state. This era is termed the "golden age of libraries", as libraries became national symbols of pride.[138]
One of the first plans for a national library was devised by the Welsh mathematician John Dee, who in 1556 presented Mary I of England with a visionary plan for the preservation of old books, manuscripts and records and the founding of a national library, but his proposal was not taken up.[139]
In England, Sir
National libraries
The first true national library was founded in 1753 as part of the British Museum. This new institution was the first of a new kind of museum – national, belonging to neither church nor king, freely open to the public and aiming to collect everything.[143] The museum's foundations lay in the will of the physician and naturalist Sir Hans Sloane, who gathered an enviable collection of curiosities over his lifetime which he bequeathed to the nation for £20,000.[144]
Sloane's collection included some 40,000 printed books and 7,000
The first exhibition galleries and reading room for scholars opened on 15 January 1759,[147] and in 1757, King George II granted it the right to a copy of every book published in the country, thereby ensuring that the Museum's library would expand indefinitely.
Anthony Panizzi became the Principal Librarian at the British Library in 1856, where he oversaw its modernization. During his tenure, the Library's holdings increased from 235,000 to 540,000 volumes, making it the largest library in the world at the time. Its famous circular Reading Room was opened in 1857. Panizzi undertook the creation of a new catalogue, based on the "Ninety-One Cataloguing Rules" (1841) which he devised with his assistants. These rules served as the basis for all subsequent catalogue rules of the 19th and 20th centuries, and are at the origins of the ISBD and of digital cataloguing elements such as Dublin Core.
In France, the first national library was the
and merged it with his private library.The appointment of
The library's collections swelled to over 300,000 volumes during the radical phase of the French Revolution when the private libraries of aristocrats and clergy were seized. After the establishment of the French First Republic in September 1792, "the Assembly declared the Bibliotheque du Roi to be national property and the institution was renamed the Bibliothèque Nationale. After four centuries of control by the Crown, this great library now became the property of the French people."[148]
Expansion
In the newly formed United States, James Madison first proposed instituting a congressional library in 1783.[151] The Library of Congress was established on 24 April 1800, when president John Adams signed an act of Congress providing for the transfer of the seat of government from Philadelphia to the new capital city of Washington. Part of the legislation appropriated $5,000 "for the purchase of such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress ..., and for fitting up a suitable apartment for containing them...." Books were ordered from London and the collection, consisting of 740 books and 3 maps, was housed in the new Capitol.[152] In 1814, the majority of this first iteration of the Library of Congress burned as British troops sacked Washington D.C. Soon after, Thomas Jefferson pushed Congress to accept his personal library to replace what was lost. Within a year, the majority of his library had been purchased by Congress, doubling the number of books in the previous collection and greatly expanding its range of subjects. Jefferson's library formed the core of what would become the modern Library of Congress.[43][page needed]
The
Although Germany was only united as a state in 1871, the first national library was set up in the context of the
Modern public libraries
United Kingdom
Although by the mid-19th century England could claim 274
In 1835, and against government opposition,
The advocacy of Ewart and Brotherton then succeeded in having a select committee set up to consider public library provision. The Report argued that the provision of public libraries would steer people towards temperate and moderate habits. With a view to maximising the potential of current facilities, the committee made two significant recommendations. They suggested that the government should issue grants to aid the foundation of libraries and that the Museums Act 1845 should be amended and extended to allow for a tax to be levied for the establishment of public libraries.
The earliest example in England of a library to be endowed for the benefit of users who were not members of an institution such as a cathedral or college was the Francis Trigge Chained Library in Grantham, Lincolnshire, established in 1598. The library still exists and can justifiably claim to be the forerunner of later public library systems. The beginning of the modern, free, open access libraries really got its start in the UK in 1847. Parliament appointed a committee, led by William Ewart, on Public Libraries to consider the necessity of establishing libraries through the nation: In 1849 their report noted the poor condition of library service, it recommended the establishment of free public libraries all over the country, and it led to the Public Libraries Act in 1850, which allowed all cities with populations exceeding 10,000 to levy taxes for the support of public libraries.
Salford Museum and Art Gallery first opened in November 1850 as "The Royal Museum & Public Library", as the first unconditionally free public library in England.[163][164] The library in Campfield, Manchester was the first library to operate a free lending library without subscription in 1852.[165] Norwich lays claims to being the first municipality to adopt the Public Libraries Act 1850 (which allowed any municipal borough with a population of 100,000 or more to introduce a halfpenny rate to establish public libraries – although not to buy books). Norwich was the eleventh library to open, in 1857, after Winchester, Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton, Kidderminster, Cambridge, Birkenhead and Sheffield.
Another important act was the Elementary Education Act 1870, which increased literacy and thereby the demand for libraries. By 1877, more than 75 cities had established free libraries, and by 1900 the number had reached 300.[166] This finally marks the start of the public library as we know it. And these acts influenced similar laws in other countries, such as the US.
But World War II brought nightly bombing raids from the German air force, and libraries in England suffered. While libraries in London had mostly made provisions for evacuating their irreplaceable stock, libraries in smaller towns and cities were also under threat from the German Luftwaffe, especially cities such as Coventry and Plymouth. Valuable holdings in towns with a larger library system distributed their irreplaceable resources to branch libraries. Some libraries photographed resources and then sent the negatives to a country town. Others made microfilms.
Some libraries lost entire collections from the German bombs. Both Coventry and Plymouth lost most, if not all, of their holdings. At Coventry, many important manuscripts were lost, including the account books of many of the cities medieval trading guilds such as the Drapers' Company (1523–1764) and the Tanners' Company (1605-early 1800s). Also lost at Coventry were the complete files of the local newspapers. At Plymouth, after eight hours of bombing, nothing remained.
At Liverpool, librarians working at the Central Library had placed their books in the building's basement while awaiting the books' evacuation to a more rural part of the country. But in May 1941, the library suffered a devastating bomb attack that destroyed many of the holdings, including the master catalog and other bibliographic tools.[167]
United States
In the early decades after the formation of the United States, there were a growing number of community subscription libraries, along with mercantile and athenaeum libraries.[43][page needed] The mercantile libraries were intended for members of trade groups and employees working in various industries. Athenaeums were typically formed by social or intellectual associations as combinations of libraries, art galleries, museums, music halls, and cultural event centers. The Boston Athenaeum, Athenaeum of Philadelphia, Portsmouth Athenaeum in New Hampshire, and the Salem Athenaeum in Massachusetts were all started before 1815. The Redwood Library and Athenaeum boasts its origins as far back as 1747.
The identity of the evolving American culture incorporated a strong belief that independent thought, democratic government, and religious morality relied heavily on access to information, and the ability to read. It's not surprising then, that as the population grew and expanded into its enlarging territory, libraries followed.
The first wholly tax-supported public library in the United States was Peterborough, New Hampshire (1833). It was first funded by a Town Meeting supported by state funds from the State Literary Fund, which was originally collected from taxes for the State University, but it was not adequate enough to fund the university, so the money was reallocated for the library[168] then later by an "Act Providing for the Establishment of Public Libraries" in 1849.[169] The Peterborough Town Library was proposed by Reverend Abiel Abbot as a central collection of books that would be owned by the people and be free to all of the town's inhabitants.[168] The original collection was bought by Reverend Abbot and the library trustees and was housed in Smith & Thompson's general store, which also acted as a post office.[168] The New Hampshire State Legislature was encouraged by the innovation of Abbot and in 1849 became "the first state to pass a law authorizing towns to raise money to establish and maintain their own libraries".[168] By 1890 the library had outgrown its space and a new building was constructed. This building has been expanded twice since then to accommodate the growing collection. According to the Peterborough Town Library website, "its importance rests in its being created on the principle, accepted at Town Meeting, that the public library, like the public school, was deserving of maintenance by public taxation and should be owned and managed by the people of the community".[168]
The year 1876 is key in the history of
Philanthropists and businessmen, including John Passmore Edwards, Henry Tate and Andrew Carnegie, helped to increase the number of public libraries from the late 19th century. Carnegie, who made his fortune largely in steel production and construction, devoted a great deal of his fortune to philanthropy. Carnegie alone built over 2000 libraries in the US, 660 Carnegie Libraries in Britain, in addition to many more in the Commonwealth.[173] Carnegie also funded academic libraries, favoring small schools and schools with African American students. "In 1899, Pennsylvania State College became the first college to receive Carnegie funding ($150,000) and their library was constructed in 1903."[174] By the end of this life, he had given away $300 million, or 90 percent of his wealth. Carnegie listed universities, libraries, medical centers, public parks, meeting and concert halls, public baths, and churches as seven areas of particular importance for philanthropic endeavors. Carnegie did not assume full responsibility for the construction of new libraries and library branches; rather, he stipulated that communities provide sites for libraries, and governments commit to providing salaries for staff and maintaining the libraries. Additionally, Carnegie libraries could not rely solely on private funds, but required public funds as well. This ensured that the libraries would be a part of the community and continue to receive funding after the initial donation. In total, Carnegie donated $40 million to the construction of 1,670 public library buildings in the United States. Additionally, Carnegie funded construction for more than 100 academic libraries in the United States.[175][176]
In 1997, Bill and Melinda Gates worked on their first major philanthropic venture, called the U.S. Library Program. The program provided grants to "more than 5,800 libraries in the United States, installed more than 25,000 PCs and trained 7,000 librarians."[177] By providing grants the U.S. Library Program has "increased public access to computer, the Internet and digital information to library patrons in low-income communities".[177]
Segregation in libraries
Public libraries were amongst the public places in the southern United States that followed the Jim Crow laws, and segregated services for white and non-white patrons, sometimes barring black individuals from entering.[178]
The desegregation of libraries during the civil rights movement represented a "time of crisis for librarianship", in which civilians and library staff had to contend with many forms of racism and resistance to social change. As a "product of the society within which they exist", desegregation looked vastly different between libraries in the North and South. In the North library development was encouraged by a general mindset in favor of education and reading, as well as the economic means to fund library development. In the South, many industries believed maintaining a low literacy rate would ensure that there was a large supply of inexpensive and unskilled labor, especially among black laborers. Libraries in the South were often segregated with a heavy hand, with some library administrators intent on keeping exclusion mutual by restricting white people from accessing libraries created for black people. Whether libraries for black people even existed was often a result of fundraising efforts among black citizens, although white library administrators in power were quick to take praise for the size of their "black libraries". The amount of funds provided to libraries also disproportionately left black citizens at a disadvantage. In one instance, the Booker T. Washington branch in Birmingham received 8% of the library's budget, even though people who were black made up 40% of the population.[179]
African American libraries and literary societies
The history of African Americans and libraries in the United States is one with a rich heritage. The earliest established library started by and for African Americans in the US was the Philadelphia Library Company of Colored Persons. By 1838, its collection included 600 volumes, as well as pamphlets and maps. Members could read independently or follow a scheduled course of study.
The nineteenth century was a fruitful time for African American literary societies. As well as a creating space for a black literary tradition, these societies provided libraries to their members, often through subscriptions. They were an important beginning in library access for African Americans in the United States when they were excluded from larger white literary societies. African American literary societies included the Bethel Literary and Historical Society, Philadelphia Library Company of Colored Persons already mentioned. Additional societies that held an important role in library history included the Banneker Institute of the City of Philadelphia which began in 1854 and, within three years, had a library that compared to that of the Philadelphia Library Company of Colored Persons, which in 1841 recorded a collection of almost 600 books.[180] There were also literary societies created specifically by and for black women such as the Female Literary Association which started in Philadelphia in 1831 and included the role of a librarian in its constitution, who would "have charge of all books belonging to the Association, and after each meeting, take care that they be placed in the Library."[181] Much of the literature focuses on Philadelphia seemingly due to the many literary societies found there and the documentation that has been preserved about them, but there were many throughout the country. The Phoenix Society was one such society, which began in New York in 1833 with one of the founding goals being to "establish circulating libraries . . . for the use of people of colour on very moderate pay"; within eight months of their inception—by December 1833—they had succeeded in opening a library and reading room.[182]
The philanthropy of
Another funder for building libraries, especially in African American communities in the South, was the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA was part of the "New Deal" created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his administration. The "New Deal" was meant to boost and invest in the American economy and infrastructure that was devastated by the Great Depression.[186] Services and access to funds was to be distributed to all areas, but especially regions hit the hardest, such as the South. The South had been devastated by the Great Depression and racial divisions exacerbated the economic conditions. With nearly two-thirds of the population in the South being African Americans it was imperative that everyone have access to resources afforded through the WPA.[187] In 1935, the WPA created the library demonstration project. The project was created to encourage the development of libraries in underserved areas and to boost employment.[187] With the help of WPA, African Americans were afforded more access to libraries and employment. For instance, in 1933 South Carolina had fifty-six public libraries and only four provided services to the African American community.[187] Even with private libraries filled with donations, only 15 percent of the African American community in South Carolina had access to library services and materials.[187] By 1937, the WPA had established a bookmobile for the African American Community in South Carolina. By 1939, WPA funded twenty-nine segregated libraries, the majority of which employed members of the African American community.[187] Though it is undetermined how many libraries were built to serve African American communities through the WPA, the WPA built and renovated at least 1,000 libraries.[188] These numbers do not include the funding, services and assistance the program provided to existing libraries.
Disaster recovery
The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recognizes libraries as an invaluable community service and has added libraries to the list of essential services eligible for emergency funding after a disaster.[189] With this funding, libraries can restore services faster in order to provide internet access, air conditioned spaces, electricity for charging electronic devices, and access to running water.[190]
South Africa
Beginning in 1910, South Africa's public libraries grew in importance to the country's English settlers. During World War I, South Africa had a total of seventy-one subscription libraries, all governed by the English government.[191] Afrikaners had fewer libraries at the time, only seven.[191]
In 1928, two librarians were appointed by the Carnegie Corporation in New York to survey library resources in South Africa.[192] Their top two concerns were the lack of library use by Afrikaners and creating library provisions and school library services for non-Whites, with the recommendation that they not share the same buildings as White patrons.[192]
During the apartheid years (1948–1994), progressive libraries such as the Durban Library, opened branches in Indian and Colored communities, despite government pressure to not do so.[193] The years of apartheid began with the Natal Indian Congress, founded by Gandhi, which called upon the Durban City Council to end the restriction of non-Europeans by opening the library to all sections of the community.[193] The pressure put on the city council by the Natal India Congress forced the council to start a travelling service for non-European patrons.[193]
The Afrikaans government during apartheid passed several discriminatory legislative measures including the Separate Amenities Act of 1953, forcing councils to provide separate amenities and services for each race.[193] If the councils were unable to provide these amenities and services to all races, they focused solely on Whites.[194] During this time the Afrikaans government became responsible for Black library provisions while the provinces became responsible for Colored, Indian and White library provisions, a fact that took two years for the South African Library Association to find out.[195]
20th century
In the 20th century, many public libraries were built in different Modernist architecture styles, some more functional, others more representative. For many of these buildings, the quality of the interior spaces, their lighting and atmosphere, was becoming more significant than the façade design of the library building. Modernist architects like Alvar Aalto, have put great emphasis on the comfort and usability of library spaces. The Municipal Library he built 1958–62 for the German city of Wolfsburg features a great central room for which he used a series of specially designed skylights to bring in natural light, even though all the walls are covered with books.[citation needed]
21st century
In the 21st Century, libraries continue to change and evolve to match new trends involving the way that patrons consume books and other media. More than ever, the 21st Century library is the digital library. By 2017, 100% of US libraries offered internet access and 90% helped with internet skills.[196] Librarians became increasingly responsible for both physical and digital collections. A digital collection can include sources created and distributed digitally and physical documents scanned and provided in a digital format. With an increase in demand for digital resources, library systems throughout the world have expanded their outreach. Driven by ebook reading apps that categorize content based on different popular groupings, digital book clubs, digital magazines, and easy-access digital library cards for ebooks and audiobooks ebook and audiobook use in libraries globally reached a record high with 326 million loans by the end of 2018. Libraries that lead the way in supplying digital books include the Toronto Public Library, which held the record for digital loans in 2019 with 6.6 million, and the National Library Board of Singapore, which expanded its digital collection and achieved 4.2 million digital loans in 2019.[197]
Digital libraries bring with them a whole host of new challenges such as: how the resources are distributed to patrons, whether or not authentication is required and the compatibility of patron hardware or software. They initially faced difficulty being integrated into libraries because there was the fear of a loss of community by adding
Other digital resources attract patrons to libraries for purposes other than books, especially those developed as part of the
A challenge commonly faced by 21st-century libraries are budget-cuts, forcing librarians to become more efficient in the management of their funds and more vocal in the advocacy of their libraries. The American Library Association maintains a web page on navigating a challenging budget year.[201] However, they are finding ways to adapt to people's needs, such as providing digital services to patrons at home, and creating more user-friendly places.[202][further explanation needed]
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic further changed how libraries operated. Libraries around the world were faced with really hard choices as to which services to offer and which services to shut down for a limited time. Most libraries resorted to online only resources such as e-book lending and other digital services. These decisions depended on both government sanctions, library directors, or other parties in charge as to how they wanted to proceed. Library operations during this time were delayed as virus contamination through book lending and return was suspected. Book returns in some cases had a longer return period or were kept in a book quarantine before being handled by personnel to be processed. In 2021, it was announced that the library named "Ocean Sea Public Library," the largest library in Asia, would open in Hong Kong with new variety of literary works and a museum connected.[203][further explanation needed]
See also
- Bibliography
- Library science
- Public libraries
- History of the Internet
References
- ^ Casson (2001), p. 3.
- ^ a b Krasner-Khait, Barbara (2001). "Survivor: The History of the Library". History Magazine. Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ Maclay, Kathleen (6 May 2003). "Clay cuneiform tablets from ancient Mesopotamia to be placed online". University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
- ^ Renfrew, Colin (2008) Prehistory The Making of the Human Mind, New York: Modern Library.
- ISBN 9780195115048. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
- ^ "'Assurbanipal Library Phase 1', British Museum One". Britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- ^ "Epic of Creation," in Dalley, Stephanie. Myths from Mesopotamia. Oxford, 1989; pp. 233–81
- ^ "Epic of Gilgamesh," in Dalley, Stephanie. Myths from Mesopotamia. Oxford, 1989; pp. 50–135
- Blackwell Publishing. p. 263
- ^ Weitemeyer, M. (1956). Archive and library technique in ancient Mesopotamia. Libri: International Journal of Libraries, 6(3). 217–238.
- ^ a b Mukherjee, A. K. (1966). Librarianship: Its Philosophy and History. Asia Publishing House. p. 86
- ISBN 964-315-573-0
- ^ "Persepolis Fortification Archive".
- ^ Stein, Gil J. "Persepolis Fortification Tablets" (PDF).
- ^ a b c d e Al-Nadim (1381). Mohammad Reza Tajadod (ed.). Al Fehrest (in Persian). Tehran: Asatir Publications.
- ISBN 0-7661-8908-2
- ^ Homayoun Farrokh, Rokn Aldin, The History of Books and Libraries in Iran, Honar va Mardom Magazine, 1347
- ^ Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, Sagan, C 1980, "Episode 1: The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean"
- ^ a b c Phillips, Heather A., "The Great Library of Alexandria?" Archived 18 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Library Philosophy and Practice, August 2010
- ISBN 9780199255214.
Nevertheless, in 92 the same office went to a Greek, Ti. Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, who belonged to a family of priests of Rome hailing from Sardis; entered the Senate under Vespasian, he was subsequently to be appointed proconsul of Asia under Trajan, possibly in 105/6. Celsus' son, Aquila, was also to be made suffectus in 110, although he is certainly remembered more as the builder of the famous library his father envisioned for Ephesus.
- ISBN 9783515023931.
Ti. Julius Celsus Polemaeanus (PIR2 J 260) was a Romanized Greek of Ephesus or Sardes who became the first eastern consul.
- ^ Strocka, Volke, M. (2003). The Celsus Library. Ancient libraries of Anatolia: libraries of Hatusha, Pergamon, Ephesus, Nysa.(Ankara): Middle East Technical University Library, 2003, pp. 33–43.
- ^ Seneca, De tranquillitate animi ix.4–7.
- ^ Casson (2001), p. 80; Ewald (2004); Buchanan (2012)
- ^ Ewald (2004), p. 9.
- ^ Casson (2001), p. 80.
- ^ Casson (2001), p. 81; Buchanan (2012), p. 61; Richardson (1976), pp. 63–64; Gorrie, Charmaine (2007). The Restoration of the Porticus Octaviae and Severan Imperial Policy. Greece & Rome, 54(1), 1.
- ^ Richardson (1976), p. 64.
- ^ Casson (2001), p. 84; Buchanan (2012), pp. 61–62.
- ^ Ewald (2004), p. 10; Buchanan (2012), p. 62; Casson (2001), p. 61.
- ^ Houston, G. W. (2008). Tiberius and the Libraries: Public Book Collections and Library Buildings in the Early Roman Empire. Libraries & the Cultural Record, 43, 247–269.
- ^ doi:10.2307/2846353
- ISBN 978-90-04-10278-1. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
- .
- ^ Parsaiyan, Hassan (1382). "Libraries in Iran's Classic Era". Payam Baharestan Magazine (in Persian). 21–22: 34–36.
- ^ "Stradavinisaporifc.it". Stradavinisaporifc.it. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- ^ Bischoff, B. and Gorman, M. (1994). Manuscripts and libraries in the age of Charlemagne. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Staikos, K. K. (2004). The history of the library in Western civilization. New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll Press, p. 12
- ^ Staikos, 2007, p. 8
- ^ Murray (2009), p. 24.
- ^ Papademetriou, G. C. (2000). "The Patriarchal libraries of Constantinople". Greek Orthodox Theological Review, 45(1–4), 171–190.
- ^ Lyons, M. (2011). Books: A living history. London: Thames and Hudson, pp. 35–36.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Murray 2009.
- JSTOR 41663782.
- S2CID 161518883. p. 320.
- ^ Peterson (2010), p. 329
- ^ Peterson (2010), pp. 330–331
- ^ Thompson, J. W. (1957). The medieval library. New York: Hafner Publishing Co. p. 311.
- ^ a b Thompson (1957), p. 312
- ^ Staikos, 2007, pp. 30–31
- ^ Staikos, 2007, p. 33
- ^ Staikos, 2007, pp. 32–33
- ^ Thompson (1957), pp. 312–313
- ^ Thompson (1957), p. 313
- S2CID 144206813. p. 603.
- ^ Staikos, 2007, p. 43
- ^ Staikos, 2007, p. 44
- ^ Staikos, 2007, pp. 44–45
- ^ Staikos, 2007, p. 429
- ^ Thompson (1957), pp. 313–314
- PMID 15841218.
- ^ Nanji, Azim (2008). Landolt, Hermann; Sheikh, Samira; Kassam, Kutub (eds.). An Anthology of Ismaili Literature: A Shi'i Vision of Islam. London: IB Tauris. p. xiii.
- ^ a b FSTC Limited (10 January 2003). "The Beginning of the Paper Industry". Muslim Heritage. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
- ^ Wani, Z. A., & Maqbol, T. (2012). The Islamic Era and Its Importance to Knowledge and the Development of Libraries. Library Philosophy & Practice, p. 208.
- ISBN 964-7483-02-3.
- ^ ISBN 964-7483-02-3.
- ^ S2CID 144041402.
- ISBN 978-0-19-531173-0.
- ^ AlMuqaddasi, Shams AlDin Mohammad Ibn Ahmad, Kitab Ahsan altaqasim fi ma'rifat alaqalim, edited by M.J. de Goeje, 1877, 2nd edition, 1906, p.449.
- ISBN 978-0-19-506613-5.
- S2CID 144041402.
- ISBN 964-7483-02-3.
- ^ a b Ganji, Ali Reza (1379). "The History of Library in Iran". Information and Public Libraries Research Studies. 39: 83–84.
- ^ Goeje, M.J. de, ed. (1906). "Al-Muqaddasi: Ahsan al-Taqasim". Bibliotheca geographorum Arabicorum (in Arabic). Vol. III. Leiden: E.J. Brill. p. 449.
- ^ "بهاءالدوله ابونصر فیروزی". دانشنامه جهان اسلام. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
- ^ گنجی, علیرضا (October 1379). "تاریخچه کتابخانه در ایران - پایگاه مجلات تخصصی نور". تحقیقات اطلاع رسانی و کتابخانههای عمومی. 39 (10): 83–84.
- ^ Pomerantz, Pomerantz. "ṢĀḤEB EBN ʿABBĀD, ESMĀʿIL". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- ^ Al-Hamawi, Yagut (1995). "Vol 5". Mu'jam al-Buldān (in Arabic). Beirut: Al Sader.
- ^ Fadllulah, Rashid Al-Din. Afshar, Iraj; Minavi, Mojtaba (eds.). Rab e Rashidi Deed for Endowment. Tehran: Anjoman Asare Meli Publications.
- ^ "The Deed For Endowment: Rab' I-Rashidi (Rab I-Rashidi Endowment) 13th Century manuscript". UNESCO, Memory of The World. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- ISBN 9780883780305.
- ISBN 9780500514214.
- ISBN 978-0-7201-1896-4.
- ^ ISBN 9781616084530.
- ^ International dictionary of library histories, 29
- ^ "Montecassino, one of the most important libraries in the world". crossingitaly.net. 2012. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ISBN 9781108027892. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ^ Lyons, Martyn (2011). Books: A Living History. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum. p. 38.
- ^ Murray (2009), p. 39.
- ^ Geo. Haven Putnam (1962). Books and Their Makers in the Middle Ages. Hillary.
- ^ Murray (2009), p. 33.
- ^ Guthrie, L. (1992). An Overview of Medieval Library Cataloging. Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 15(3), 93–100.
- ^ Beddie, J. (1930). The Ancient Classics in the Mediaeval Libraries. Speculum, 5(1), 3-20. doi:10.2307/2846353
- ^ Philippe Bobichon, Bibliothèques juives médiévalesin Encyclopédie de l'humanisme méditerranéen, 2019 online
- ^ Survivor: the History of the Library, history-magazine.com
- ^ This section on Roman Renaissance libraries follows Kenneth M. Setton, "From Medieval to Modern Library" Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 104.4, Dedication of the APS Library Hall, Autumn General Meeting, November 1959 (August 1960:371–390) p. 372 ff.
- ISSN 0024-2519.
- ^ Boutcher (2011), p. 211.
- ^ Boutcher (2011), p. 214
- ^ Boutcher (2011), p. 219
- ISBN 9780786450886. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
- ^ "Historic Grantham". Archived from the original on 16 January 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
- ^ a b Murray (2009), p. 115.
- ^ Anon. "Norwich City Library 1608–1737: The Minutes, Donation Book and Catalogue of Norwich City Library, Founded in 1608". Norfolk Record Society. Archived from the original on 11 July 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2009.
- ^ Anon. "Welcome to Chetham's Library". Chetham's Library Home page. Retrieved 18 November 2009.
- ^ Hobson, Anthony "Open Shelves", TLS, 8 December 2006, 9.
- ^ Walker, Thomas D. "An Eighteenth-Century Library Census: Adalbert Blumenschein's 'Beschreibung verschiedener Bibliotheken in Europa."' Ph.D. diss., University of Illinois at Urbana, 1992.
- ISBN 0-7864-0840-5.
- ^ Littell, Robert S., Eliakim Littell, and Making of America Project. Living Age, The. New York, The Living Age Co. Inc., V.121 Apr-Jun 1874. pp. 269
- ^ "Bibliotheca Palatina – The Story of a World-Famous Library". Bibliotheca Palatina Digital.
- ^ Kelly (1966), p. 94.
- ^ Predeek, Albert (1947) A History of Libraries in Great Britain and North America. Chicago: American Library Association; p. 58
- ^ "Biblioteca Palafoxiana" (PDF). UNESCO. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
- S2CID 159841691.
- ^ Sherman, William H. (2010). "Palafoxiana, Biblioteca". In Suarez, Michael F.; Woudhuysen, H. R. (eds.). The Oxford Companion to the Book. Oxford University Press.
- ^ Battles, Matthew (2003) Library: an unquiet history; p. 121
- ISBN 9780521469692.
- ^ "About Harvard Library". Harvard Library. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ "About LCP – The Library Company of Philadelphia". Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- ^ a b Kelly (1966), p. 185
- ^ Murray (2009), p. 148.
- ^ Murray (2009), p. 180.
- ^ George Clark, The Later Stuarts: 1616–1714 (2nd ed. 1956) p 158.
- ^ a b Raven, James. "Libraries for sociability: the advance of subscription library." The Cambridge History Of Libraries In Britain And Ireland. 3 vols. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 251.
- ^ John Feltham (1807). "Circulating Libraries". Picture of London, for 1807 (8th ed.). London: Richard Phillips.
- ^ Eliot, Simon. "Circulating libraries in the Victorian age and after." The Cambridge History Of Libraries In Britain And Ireland. 3 vols. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 125-126.
- ^ Forster, Geoffrey, and Alan Bell. "The subscription libraries and their members." The Cambridge History of Libraries in Britain And Ireland. 3 vols. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 147-148.
- ISBN 081082972X
- ^ a b Kelly (1966), p. 128
- ^ Kelly (1966), p. 126
- ^ Kelly (1966), p. 133
- ^ Kaufman, Paul. Libraries and Their Users. Page 29. The Library Association. 1969. Print.
- ^ Kaufman, Paul (1969); p. 209
- ^ Allan, David (2008); p. 68
- ^ Irwin, Raymond (1964); p. 53
- ^ Kelly (1966), p. 127
- ^ Murray (2009), pp. 145–147.
- ^ Murray 2009, p. 119.
- ^ Fell-Smith, Charlotte (1909) John Dee: 1527–1608. London: Constable and Company.
- ^ John Aikin. The Lives of John Selden, Esq., and Archbishop Usher; With Notices of the Principal English Men of Letters with Whom They Were Connected. 1812. p. 375.
- ^ Manuscripts and archives – The British Library
- ^ "An Act for the better settling and preserving the Library kept in the House at Westminster called Cotton House in the Name and Family of the Cottons for the Benefit of the Publick" [Chapter VII. Rot. Parl. 12 § 13 Gul. III. p. 1. n. 7.], Statutes of the Realm: volume 7: 1695–1701 (1820), pp. 642–643.
- ^ Dunton, Larkin (1896). The World and Its People. Silver, Burdett. p. 38.
- ^ "Creating a Great Museum: Early Collectors and The British Museum". Fathom. Archived from the original on 2 January 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
- ^ "General history". British Museum. 14 June 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
- ^ Letter to Charles Long (1823), BMCE115/3,10. Scrapbooks and illustrations of the Museum. (Wilson, David, M.) (2002). The British Museum: A History. London: The British Museum Press, p. 346
- ^ The British Museum Opened Archived 2 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine, History Today
- ^ JSTOR 25541320.
- ^ a b c This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). . Encyclopedia Americana.
- ISBN 978-1-58456-182-8
- ^ Murray 2009, p. 157.
- ^ "Jefferson's Legacy • A Brief History of the Library of Congress". Library of Congress. 6 March 2006. Retrieved 14 January 2008.
- Imperial Russiain the early 1900s
- ^ Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd. edition
- ^ Fabian, Bernhard, ed. (2003). "Reichsbibliothek von 1848". Handbuch der historischen Buchbestände in Deutschland. Hildesheim: Olms Neue Medien.
- ^ McMenemy (2009), pp. 24–26
- ^ "History of the Public Libraries Act". Archived from the original on 16 March 2014.
- ^ Select Committee on inquiry into drunkenness, Report (1834)
- ^ Kelly & Kelly (1977), p. 77
- ^ Minto (1932) chapters 3–4
- ^ Murison (1971) chapter 2
- ^ Hansard (1850) Col. 848
- ^ "Eye witness in Manchester". Manchesteronline. Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved on 5 September 2008
- ^ "1st in Salford". visitsalford.info. Archived from the original on 7 January 2009. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
- ^ "Anniversary of first public library". BBC News. 5 September 2002. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
- ISBN 0-8108-1666-0.
- S2CID 147710266.
- ^ a b c d e "History: Peterborough Town Library". Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
- ^ Shera, Jesse H. (1949). Foundations of the Public Library: The Origins of the Public Library Movement in New England, 1629–1855. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- ^ "ALA Website".
- ^ Paula D. Watson, "Founding Mothers: The Contribution of Woman's Organizations to Public Library Development in the United States", Library Quarterly, Vol. 64, Issue 3, 1994, p. 236
- ^ Teva Scheer, "The 'Praxis' Side of the Equation: Club Women and American Public Administration", Administrative Theory & Praxis, Vol. 24, Issue 3, 2002, p. 525
- ISBN 978-0-471-14422-9.
- S2CID 144633492.
- ISBN 0-471-14422-3.
- ^ Murray (2009), pp. 182–187.
- ^ a b "The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's U.S. Library Program distributes final round of grant applications". Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
- JSTOR 4309483.
- ^ Graham, P.T. (2002). A Right to Read: Segregation and Civil Rights in Alabama's Public Libraries, 1900-1965. University of Alabama Press.
- S2CID 144956047.
- ISBN 9780195371307.
- ISBN 9780822384144.
- ^ a b Wheeler, M., Johnson-Houston, D., & Walker, B.E. (2004). A Brief History of Library Service to African Americans. American Libraries, 35(2), 42
- ^ a b Fultz, Michael (Summer 2006). "Black Public Libraries in the South in the Era of Du Jure Segregation". Libraries and the Cultural Record. 41/3 – via Gale Literature Resource Center.
- ^ Du Bois, W. E. (1909). 14th Annual Conference for the Study of the Negro Problems. Efforts for Social Betterment Among Negro Americans. Atlanta: Atlanta University Press
- ^ "Works Progress Administration (WPA)". HISTORY. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Gorman, Robert M. (1997). "Blazing the Way: The WPA Library Service Demonstration Project in South Carolina". Libraries and Culture. 32 (4): 427–455.
- JSTOR 1425295.
- ^ deNovo (2 January 2011). "FEMA Recognizes Libraries as Essential Community Organizations". Cedar Rapids Public Library. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ^ Rose, Joel (12 August 2013). "For Disaster Preparedness: Pack A Library Card?". NPR.org. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
- ^ a b Armstrong (2013), p. 39.
- ^ a b Armstrong (2013), p. 40
- ^ a b c d Armstrong (2013), p. 41
- ^ Armstrong (2013), pp. 41–42
- ^ Armstrong (2013), p. 42
- ^ American Library Association (2017). "Quotable Facts About America's Libraries" (PDF). American Library Association. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ^ Burleigh, David (8 January 2019). "Public Libraries Achieve Record-Breaking Ebook And Audiobook- Usage In 2018". OverDrive. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- doi:10.3998/weave.12535642.0002.102.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ "A New Twist in Ebook Library Licensing Fees". The Author's Guild. 21 June 2019. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-8389-1506-6.
- ^ "Budget in the Crosshairs? Navigating a Challenging Budget Year". American Library Association. 19 September 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- Global Citizen. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- ^ "IFLA -- COVID-19 and the Global Library Field". www.ifla.org. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
Bibliography
- Armstrong, Gordon (2013). "The Culture and History of South African Public Libraries: The Experiences of Durban Library". Library History. 16 (1): 35–47. S2CID 145266891.
- Boutcher, Warren (2011). "Collecting Manuscripts and Printed Books in the Late Renaissance: Naudé and the Last Duke of Urbino's Library". Italian Studies. 66 (2): 206–220. S2CID 191540774.
- Buchanan, Sarah (2012). "Designing the Research Commons: Classical Models for School Libraries". School Libraries Worldwide. 18 (1): 56–69.
- Casson, Lionel (2001). Libraries in the ancient world. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300088090.
- Ewald, L. A. (2004). Library Culture in Ancient Rome, 100 B.C. – A.D. 400. Kentucky Libraries. Vol. 68. pp. 9–11.
- Kelly, Thomas (1966). Early Public Libraries: a history of public libraries in Great Britain before 1850. London: Library Association. ISBN 9780853653813.
- Murray, Stuart (2009). The Library: An Illustrated History. Chicago: Skyhorse and the American Library Association. ISBN 978-1-61608-453-0.
- Pettegree, Andrew, and Arthur der Weduwen. 2021. The library: a fragile history. London: Profile Books Ltd.
- Richardson, L. (1976). "The Evolution of the Porticus Octaviae". American Journal of Archaeology. 80 (1): 57–64. S2CID 192959582.
Further reading
- Black, Alistair. A New History of the English Public Library: Social and Intellectual Contexts, 1850–1914, London and New York: Leicester University Press (1996); The Public Library in Britain 1914–2000 (2000)
- Goedeken, Edward A. 2019. "The Literature of American Library History, 2016–2017." Information & Culture 54 (3): 342–80.
- Goedeken, Edward A. 2018. "The Literature of American Library History, 2014-2015." Information & Culture 53 (1): 85–120.
- Goedeken, Edward A. 2016. "The Literature of American Library History, 2012-2013." Information & Culture 51 (2): 268–98.
- Goedeken, Edward A. 2013. "The Literature of American Library History, 2010-2011." Information & Culture 48 (4): 506–36.
- Goedeken, Edward A. 2011. "The Literature of American Library History, 2008-2009." Libraries & the Cultural Record 46 (4): 412–41.
- Goedeken, Edward A. 2009. "The Literature of American Library History, 2006-2007." Libraries & the Cultural Record 44 (4): 434–70.
- Goedeken, Edward A. 2008. "The Literature of American Library History, 2003-2005." Libraries & the Cultural Record 43 (4): 440–80
- Goedeken, Edward A. 2004. "The Literature of American Library History, 2001-2002." Libraries & Culture 39 (2): 175–211.
- Goedeken, Edward A. 2002. "The Literature of American Library History, 1999-2000." Libraries & Culture 37 (2): 138–74.
- Goedeken, Edward A. 2000. "The Literature of American Library History, 1997-1998." Libraries & Culture 35 (2): 311–53.
- Goedeken, Edward A. 1998. "The Literature of American Library History, 1995-1996." Libraries & Culture 33, (4): 407–45.
- Goedeken, Edward A. 1996. "The Literature of American Library History, 1993-1994." Libraries & Culture 31: 603–44.
- Harris, Michael H. (1999). History of Libraries of the Western World (4th ed.). Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7715-3.
- Harris, Michael H. ed. (1971) Reader in American Library History online edition; articles by scholars
- Hoare, Peter, ed. (3 vol. 2006) The Cambridge History of Libraries in Britain and Ireland, 2072 pages
- Hobson, Anthony. Great Libraries, Littlehampton Book Services (1970), surveys 27 famous European libraries (and 5 American ones) in 300pp.
- Kelly, Thomas Forest. The Role of the Scroll: An Illustrated Introduction to Scrolls in the Middle Ages (New York: Norton, 2019) 272 pp. $30.00
- Krause, Louise Beerstecher (1898), Reading List on Library Buildings, Boston: Boston Book Company
- Krummel, Donald William. 1999. Fiat lux, fiat latebra: a celebration of historical library functions. Champaign, Ill: Publications Office, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
- Lerner, Fred. (2nd ed. 2009) The Story of Libraries: From the Invention of Writing to the Computer Age, London, Bloomsbury
- Martin, Lowell A. (1998) Enrichment: A History of the Public Library in the United States in the Twentieth Century, Scarecow Press
- Murray, Stuart A.P. (2009) The Library: An Illustrated History, Skyhorse Publishing, New York, New York
- Ovenden, Richard [VNV]. Burning the Books: A History of Knowledge Under Attack. 2020.Ovenden, Richard [VNV].
- ISBN 9781788163422.
- Staikos, Konstantinos, The History of the Library in Western Civilization, translated by Timothy Cullen, New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll Press, 2004–2013 (six volumes).
- Stam, David H. (2001). International Dictionary of Library Histories. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781579582449., 1100pp; covers 122 major libraries in Europe, 59 in U.S., and 44 others, plus 47 thematic essays
- Wedgeworth, Robert; et al., eds. (1993). World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services (3rd ed.). American Library Association. ISBN 9780838906095.
- Wiegand, Wayne A.; Donald G. Davis, Jr. (1994). Encyclopedia of Library History. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780824057879.; covers 60 major libraries
External links
- Krummel, D.W. Fiat lux, fiat latebra: a celebration of historical library functions. Graduate School of Library and Information Science. University of Illinois. Occasional Paper 209.August 1999.