The History of Libraries

Even before libraries as we consider them nowadays came into existence, individuals gathered and cherished their own personal collections of books and materials. The importance of the survival and preservation of the written word has always been apparent, thus the main goal of libraries is to organize and catalogue material which will essentially act as a form of communication between generations and consistently provide accurate access to a variety of different materials. In the Middle Ages, books were more expensive and harder to get a hold of, but as the years progressed, people became more interested in the truth of documents and the quantity of books in circulation increased. From the 1600's to the 1700's there was the 'Golden Age' of libraries that stemmed from an increase in books and a general intellectual interest in libraries and learning. In the past, libraries had been primarily focused on limiting access to materials, but in the Golden Age this changed and priority shifted to spreading access to knowledge. Originally, college libraries were used to train clergy and their mainly theology orientated collections were mostly available to church members. Andrew Carnegie, an activist and philanthropist, was one of the key individuals who helped shift the access of material to the public sphere. Donating millions of dollars, he funded multiple 'Carnegie libraries' in the United States and United Kingdom, his main goal being to make self-education available to everyone. Libraries have come a long way - from secure and private storehouses to flourishing centers for acquiring information, and they will continue to be memorable markers in the timeline of years.

Located in Egypt and also fittingly deemed 'The Great Library,' this eclectic housing of mostly scrolls and manuscripts comprised of either papyrus or leather was the first, grandest, and most extensive in the ancient world. After his father laid some of the groundwork, Egypt's King Ptolemy I took initiative in forming the library, which was later enlarged and enriched by his family successors. Because texts often circulated in many different forms in the ancient world, editing to ensure the truth of a document became highly important, thus, the Library of Alexandria focused mainly on scholarly editing and research, and access to materials was limited to only those with special qualifications. Similarly, there was minimal and restricted access to materials if you weren't a researcher, and if you wished to view something, library workers would retrieve your materials and monitor you in a small hallway where you were only allowed to be for a short amount of time. The method of acquiring famed material existing in the library was somewhat intrusive - it was said that all visitors to the city of Egypt were required to surrender their written collections to the King, who would keep them and return next to perfect copies unbeknownst to the lending individual. The demise of the library is often a debatable subject, with the placement of blame often shifting to certain political sides, but a common belief is that it was destroyed in a fire spread by Julius Caesar when he burned down fleets in the harbor. Regardless of its unfortunate end, the Great Library will always be remembered for its extensive research and collections.

Alongside and rival to Alexandria in Egypt, a second huge library existed in the kingdom of Pergamum in western Asia Minor (now present day Turkey). Founded by Attalus I and largely perfected by his son, Eumenes II, the library held an extensive collection of scrolls, yet failed to measure up to the numbers held in Egypt. Nevertheless, Pergamum still played a large role as one of the two largest libraries in antiquity and was also largely responsible for the development of parchment, a very practical and durable invention imperative to the eventual switch from single sheet items to the items we know as bound books today. It is said that due to his jealousy from the alive and thriving rival library, Ptolemy banned the export of papyrus to other countries, thus placing Pergamum workers in a bind and forcing them to find alternative things to write on. However, this proved to be highly beneficial in that parchment, made from the skin of an animal, was actually more durable than papyrus and could withstand the crowded atmosphere of a library shelf better. Because of this discovery, parchment soon replaced papyrus throughout Europe, and this massive switch can be traced back to workers of the Pergamum Library. It is thought that when Alexandria was destroyed, Marc Antony gave Cleopatra nearly everything in the Pergamum collection as compensation for brutal destruction to the library.

Founded by Benjamin Franklin and members of his Junto, or "society of mutual improvement," this establishment located in historic Philadelphia bears much importance in the overall history of libraries as we view them nowadays because it was the first official subscription lending library in the United States. Although it was fee-based and usage was restricted to monthly fee-paying members only, it introduced the idea of lending books for personal use. The idea of saving fees to purchase books that could not individually be afforded was appealing to the members since, at the time, books from England were very expensive and too difficult to get a hold of. Each member paid a forward amount of 40 shillings when the original Articles of Agreement were being drawn up for the library, and each month after that they continued to pay 10 shillings. This money was spent on books of all sorts, and as the collection grew larger and larger, it came portrayed an accurate representation of the country's interests and passions. The Library was also extremely important during the Revolutionary War times when the national government was seated in Philadelphia because it also doubly functioned as the Library of Congress. Not only full of many historically important documents, the Library also housed special collections of things such as unique coins or antiques. Suffering from lack of funding during the Depression days, it was forced to sell to out and was reestablished in present times, currently still operating on a shareholding basis.

When the seat of government shifted from Philadelphia to Washington, money was allocated for the purchasing of books to contribute to a new national library. Currently, the library exists in three buildings in Washington D.C. and has the most shelf space in the world with over 30 million books and other materials, including one of four perfect copies of the Gutenberg bible. Originally, Thomas Jefferson played a large and generous role in the library, overseeing its building and donating all of his personal collection when the Library of Congress was destroyed by a fire in 1814. Not having much luck, another fire in 1851 destroyed nearly two thirds of the library's collection. In the 19th century, under the supervision of Librarian Ainsworth Rand Spofford and general support from the federal, the Library was once again put on stable footing and gained much public support as the only national library and outstanding legislative resource. Much emphasis was placed on acquiring materials from all over the world in order to enhance the multitude of the nation's collection, and importance was also placed on making the library easily accessible and useful to the public. Still maintaining its reputation as a ground breaking and monumental library, in 2005, it launched the World Digital Library, which digitally preserves materials from all over the world.

The Boston Public Library in Massachusetts, the largest municipal public library in the United States, is important in the history of the library system because it lead the way with many 'firsts.' Not only was it the first publicly supported municipal library, but it was the first grand library open to the public in the United States, and the first establishment that allowed individuals to borrow or check out books for personal use outside the limited constraints of library walls. With contributions from the mayor of Boston, John Jacob Astor, and many other well-off individuals, the library first got its feet on the ground in 1854 when the reading room officially opened to the public and material was allowed to be circulated. After outgrowing its initial housing inside of an old schoolhouse, the library had to relocate many times to incorporate the growth in materials, finally ending up in a newly built grand Renaissance style building. More modernly, the Boston Public Library was also one of the first libraries that offered free public Wi-Fi access in all areas of the building, something much used and appreciated by the Massachusetts public.