A Brief History of Libraries Fall 2008

Purpose of Libraries: To meet “the need to have society’s records readily accessible to the citizenry.” Libraries need:  Centralization  Economic growth  Political stability

Sumerian temple libraries 3000 B.C. Social, economic center of the community Records: commercial accounts, grammatical exercises, mathematical texts, treatises on medicine and astrology, collections of hymns, prayers, and incantations Cuneiform writing Administrative and practical business purposes Overseen by: “Masters of the Books,” “Keepers of the Tablets”

Egyptian 2400 B. C. Religious, cultural centers Libraries stored food, educated scribes, dispensed justice, served as historical archives Used for learning practical, spiritual, and medical arts Private collections of the wealthy Hieroglyphics ‘Librarians’ were scribes

Library of Ashurbanipal Assyria Maintain archival records, current source of reference materials, contribute to the education of future generations Scholars collected clay tablets from other lands and translated works into Assyrian Collection: Sumerian & Babylonian materials, including literary texts, history, astronomical calculations, mathematical tables, grammatical and linguistic tables, and dictionaries Commercial records and the law

Alexandrian library Ptolemy & Ptolemy Philadelphus Mission: collect the entirety of Greek literature Gathered materials throughout the known world and translated them into Greek Scholar Callimachus: created a subject catalog of 120 scrolls, 10 subject classes with subdivisions, Pinakes Public records, general literature, religious items

Roman Public Libraries 4 th century A. D. Borrowing items was rare Public forum for recitation of works by Roman authors Imperial Library: Constantinople- 353 A. D.  Christian, Latin, and Greek materials  Scholarly and religious mission

Royal Library Damascus, Moslem empire Collecting materials throughout the world on medicine, philosophy, history, literature Moslem libraries had Arabic and Persian literature, Greek and Latin philosophy and science

Monastic libraries Place for spiritual reflection, archive for religious texts, reproduce religious and secular texts Monks read and copied books for ascetic purposes Dominican friars established rules in accordance with the work of modern librarians

Cathedral libraries Support the educational program of the cathedral and encourage study

Renaissance libraries Private libraries show off personal wealth and importance

National libraries Large collections Preserve cultural heritage Comprehensive collection of materials by and about the country  Books, manuscripts, documents, other records Depository: one copy of each item published in the country would go to the library

Printing Press Ability to produce an authoritative version Ability to produce more titles and copies Ability to cover more subjects Creation of new techniques for the organization of published materials Stimulation of literacy and education for the general population

Social library “the social library was nothing more than a voluntary association of individuals who had contributed money toward a common fund to be used for the purchase of books” Emphasis on self-improvement & the search for truth  Proprietary: those who contributed $ actually owned the materials; stockholders  Subscription: fees contributed allowed them to use & circulate the collection, but not ownership

Circulating library (rental library) Satisfy public demands and popular tastes Profit-making character, entertainment Rented or paid membership fee First to provide:  Service to women  Newspapers & magazines  Extended hours of service  Reading areas in the library itself  Outreach services

Commercial library Promote the profitability of the company Reference service provided to the organization

American Academic library Emphasized theology, philosophy, history, trivium (grammar, rhetoric, logic) Supported curriculum & research

American School library Curricular support Centralized collection Library instruction

American Public library Supported by taxes Governed by a board Open to all Voluntary Established by state law Provides services without charge to user