Important People, Places and Events in Library History by: Denise Tabscott
Sep 01, 2014
Important People, Places and Events in Library
History
by: Denise Tabscott
Collecting Written Knowledge
The collection of knowledge in its written form is a practice that is old as civilization. People have always strived to record their knowledge and keep it to pass along to future generations. Clay tablets and papyrus scrolls have been found dating back to 1300 and earlier.
Early Written Works
Libraries
Eventually the name for this collection of works became the library. The library’s long history and its survival through time, wars and destruction has shown that society has valued and always had a thirst for knowledge.
The First Public Library
The first public library appeared in the fourth century bc when there was an Athenian degree that called for a repository of “trustworthy” copies of books or scrolls. Still, the private library was more prevalent. (Krasner-Khait, 2001)
Library of Hadrian, Athens
Great Library of Alexandria
Aristotle amassed a great personal library which became the start to what is now known as the Great Library of Alexandria. This was a public library open to those who had literary qualifications and was founded in 300 bc.
Questionable Library Practices
The Great Library had a few unorthodox acquisition methods. In addition to traditional book purchases Egypt’s King Ptolemy is rumored to have confiscated any book not in the library from passengers arriving in Alexandria. Ptolemy III deceived Athenian authorities and borrowed original manuscripts only to return copies instead (Krasner-Khait, 2001)
Destruction of the Great Library
During the Roman period, fire and depredations gradually led to the destruction of the Great Library. It is said that Cleopatra allowed Julius Caesar to help himself to books and he shipped tens of thousands to Rome. Because of the Great Library, Alexandria became known as the intellectual capital of the world and became a model for future libraries (Krasner-Khait, 2001).
Roman Period
Aristotle's book collection eventually became part of Rome’s library resources. In Rome’s libraries books were no longer read in an atrium away from the rest of the collection; Rome’s books were placed along the walls and readers were able to consult them in the center of the room.
Books in the Baths?
Rome’s libraries were, for the most part, still for the learned community.
The common folk did not have a place to go to read. In the third centuries libraries began to be added to the
Imperial Baths where the rich and poor could both bathe and read a book Krasner-
Khait, B. (2001).
The Fall of the Roman Empire
As Rome fell, so too did the number of libraries in existence. It seemed to be that libraries were headed to extinction.
Monasticism and its Ties to the Library
Pachomius, a monk in Egypt in the early 500s, insisted that his monasteries have monks who were literate. As libraries were vanishing from the western empire, the spread of Christianity and monasticism gave way to a thirst for knowledge that was ultimately found in the library Krasner-Khait, B. (2001).
The First Lending Library
Monasteries began loaning their books to other monasteries which became the first instance of inter-library loan Krasner-Khait, B. (2001).
Gutenberg Changes the World
In the 1400s the world was revolutionized by Gutenberg's press and movable type. This made bookmaking much easier and the days of handwritten manuscripts were over. In the 1600-1700s books saw a rise in popularity and in 1850 Parliament passed the Public Library Act and libraries began to spread through the nation.
Some Famous LibrariesBodlean Library (2nd largest in country) OxfordBritish Library (largest in country) Bibliotheque Nationale de France (National Library of France) ParisLaurentian Library, FlorenceVatican Library, Vatican CityNational Library of Spain, MadridGerman Library, FrankfurtHarvard Library (Oldest in America), Boston
Libraries Come to America
Ben Franklin and friends started a library system where people paid dues to belong to a library, this was called a subscription library. This library was called, The Library Company of Philadelphia. Immigration and the ideas of public education, however, brought about the need for free public libraries in America.
The Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the world’s largest library. It contains over 100 million items which includes over books (29 million), pamphlets, manuscripts, maps, atlases, prints, photos, musical works, microfilms, sound recordings and films. All of these are housed on over 532 miles of shelving in 3 different buildings. The library adds over 1 million items a year.(Sakuri, 1998)
The Founding of the LOC
James Madison created the LOC as a library for use by the members of congress. The official date of founding is Apr. 24, 1800. On Aug. 24, 1814 the British invaded and burned the LOC down and the library collection was lost (Sakuri, 1998).
Rebuilding the LOC
Thomas Jefferson sold his personal library collection as a replacement to the LOC. He sold roughly 6500 books for $23,950. His collection had much more varied interests than that of the previous collection. The books were organized into 3 categories: memory, reason, and imagination (Sakuri, 1998).
George Watterson, librarian
Watterson encouraged authors to donate copies of books to the Library of Congress. He took great pride in promoting the LOC as a national library (Sakuri, 1998).
The Iron Room
After another fire decimates the Library of Congress on Christmas Eve, 1851, the Library Hall is fireproofed with iron and called The Iron Room (Sakuri, 1998).
The Copyright Act of 1870
The Copyright Office becomes a part of the LOC and the Copyright Act of 1870 now requires that the LOC is given 2 copies of all new copyrighted works (Sakuri, 1998).
Andrew Carnegie, Philanthropist
In 1881 Andrew Carnegie began to promote his idea of free public libraries so anyone could have a free education through the use of books. He used his considerable wealth from selling his business, JP Morgan and over the years spent $56 million dollars building over 2500 libraries (Columbia University, 2014).
Expansion of the LOC
In 1886 the LOC begins running out of room for all of its holdings. The new building takes 11 years and over $6 million dollars to build. It now has a reading room, art gallery, hall of maps, copyright office and law library (Sakuri, 1998).
But What About Dewey?
The LOC has its own classification system of 20 categories of letters and numbers for each subject area. This classification system is still used today.
Library of Congress Legislative Reference Service
Created in 1915, this service prepares reports on any topic at the request of members of Congress. Today this staff of 900 specialists get 600,000 inquiries a year (Sakuri, 1998)
Other Important Library People
Anne Carroll Moore: Born in Limerick, Maine. She lived in 1870’s at a time when children were not allowed in most libraries. She grew up to become a librarian who fought for children’s rooms in libraries and became the first Children’s Librarian at the historic New York Public Library in 1911.
(Pinborough, 2013)
Charles Cutter
Lived in 19th Century Boston, created the Cutter system of classification, on which the current LOC Classification system is based (Stromgren, 2004).
Melvil Dewey
* Invented the Dewey Decimal Classification System (DDC).
* Known as the Father of Modern Librarianship.*Helped to establish the American Library Association (ALA) in 1876. (OCLC, 2014)
Storyyeller, 2009
Mary Kingsbury
* In 1900 she was the first high school librarian at Erasmus High School in Brooklyn. (ALA, 2014)
S.R. Ranganathan
* Created the Colon Classification system which is widely used in research libraries.* Wrote the Five Laws of Librarianship* Considered the Father of Librarianship in India.
(Encyclopedia Britannica, 2013)
ReferencesAmerican Library Association (2014). First school library? Retrieved February 10, 2014, from http://www.ala.org/tools/first-school-library
Columbia University Libraries (2014). Philanthropy of Andrew Carnegie. Retrieved February 11, 2014, from http://library.columbia.edu/locations/rbml/units/carnegie/andrew.
html
Encyclopedia Britannica (2013). Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan (Indian librarian). InEncyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 13, 2014, from http://www.britannica.
com/EBchecked/topic/491106/Shiyali-Ramamrita-Ranganathan
Krasner-Khait, B. (2001). Survivor: The history of the library. History Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.history-magazine.com/libraries.html
OCLC (2014). Melvil Dewey biography. Retrieved February 10, 2014, from http://www.oclc.org/dewey/resources/biography.en.html
Pinborough, J., & Atwell, D. (2013). Miss Moore thought otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore created libraries for children. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Books for
Children.
Sakurai, G. (1998). The Library of Congress. New York, NY: Children's Press.
Storyyeller (2009, March 10). The Dewey Decimal rap [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHiUQb5xg7A
Stromgren, P. (2004, June 26). Library systemizer extraordiaire. Daily Hampshire Gazette[Hampshire]. Retrieved from http://www.forbeslibrary.org/cutter/cacutter.shtml