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Encyclopedia > Library

Julio Pérez Ferrero Library - Cúcuta, Colombia
Julio Pérez Ferrero Library - Cúcuta, Colombia
A modern-style library in Chambéry
A modern-style library in Chambéry

A library is a collection of information, sources, resources, and services: it is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, or a private individual. In the more traditional sense, a library is a collection of books. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2048 × 1536 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2048 × 1536 pixel, file size: 1. ... Nickname: City without borders Motto: More progress! Location of Cúcuta in North Santander Department Country Colombia Department North Santander* Foundation June 17, 1733 Mayor Ramiro Suarez Corzo Area    - City 2150 km² Elevation 360 m Population    - City (2005census) 742,689 [1]  - Metro 721,794 [2] Website: www. ... Info: Interior of the médiathèque Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Chambéry Credit: Photographed by Alain caraco - 04/02/2004 Source: fr:Image:Chambery interieur mediatheque 600px. ... Info: Interior of the médiathèque Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Chambéry Credit: Photographed by Alain caraco - 04/02/2004 Source: fr:Image:Chambery interieur mediatheque 600px. ... Chambéry is the capital of the department of Savoie, France. ... Institutions are structures and mechanisms of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of two or more individuals. ... For other uses, see Book (disambiguation). ...


This collection and services are used by people who choose not to — or cannot afford to — purchase an extensive collection themselves, who need material no individual can reasonably be expected to have, or who require professional assistance with their research.


However, with the collection of media other than books for storing information, many libraries are now also repositories and access points for maps, prints, or other documents and artworks on various storage media such as microform (microfilm/microfiche), audio tapes, CDs, LPs, cassettes, videotapes, and DVDs. Libraries may also provide public facilities to access CD-ROMs, subscription databases, and the Internet. Historical records of events have been made for thousands of years in one form or another. ... For other uses, see Map (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A document is a writing that contains information. ... Chinese Jade ornament with flower design, Jin Dynasty (1115-1234 AD), Shanghai Museum. ... A roll of microfilm Microfiche Microforms are processed films that carry images of documents to users for transmission, storage, reading and printing. ... Audio storage refers to techniques and formats used to store audio with the goal to reproduce the audio later using audio signal processing to something that resembles the original. ... CD redirects here. ... A 12-inch record (left), a 7-inch record (right), and a CD (above) Two 7 singles (left), two colored 7 singles (middle), and two 7 singles with large spindle holes (right). ... The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. ... Bottom view of VHS videotape cassette with magnetic tape exposed Videotape is a means of recording images and sound onto magnetic tape as opposed to movie film. ... DVD (also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) is a popular optical disc storage media format. ... The CD-ROM (an abbreviation for Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (ROM)) is a non-volatile optical data storage medium using the same physical format as audio compact discs, readable by a computer with a CD-ROM drive. ...


Thus, modern libraries are increasingly being redefined as places to get unrestricted access to information in many formats and from many sources. In addition to providing materials, they also provide the services of specialists, librarians, who are experts at finding and organizing information and at interpreting information needs. The ASCII codes for the word Wikipedia represented in binary, the numeral system most commonly used for encoding computer information. ... The Librarian, a 1556 painting by Giuseppe Arcimboldo A librarian is an information professional trained in library science and information science: the organization and management of information and service to people with information needs. ...


More recently, libraries are understood as extending beyond the physical walls of a building, by including material accessible by electronic means, and by providing the assistance of librarians in navigating and analyzing tremendous amounts of knowledge with a variety of digital tools.


The term "library" has itself acquired a secondary meaning: "a collection of useful material for common use," and in this sense is used in fields such as computer science, mathematics and statistics, electronics and biology. Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems. ... For other meanings of mathematics or uses of math and maths, see Mathematics (disambiguation) and Math (disambiguation). ... This article is about the field of statistics. ... In electronic design, library often refers to a collection of cells, macros or functional units that perform common operations and are used to build more complex logic blocks. ... In molecular biology, a library is a collection of molecules in a stable form that represents some aspect of an organism. ...

Contents

History

The Niavaran branch of the National Library of Iran
The Niavaran branch of the National Library of Iran

The first libraries were only partly libraries, being composed for the most part of unpublished records, which are usually viewed as archives, not libraries. Archaeological findings from the ancient city-states of Sumer have revealed temple rooms full of clay tablets in cuneiform script. These archives were made up almost completely of the records of commercial transactions or inventories, with only a few documents touching theological matters, historical records or legends. Things were much the same in the government and temple records on papyrus of Ancient Egypt. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x792, 998 KB) Summary I took this image with a Fuji 200 slide film camera. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1200x792, 998 KB) Summary I took this image with a Fuji 200 slide film camera. ... The Niavaran branch of the National Library of Iran offers a pleasant environment for its users. ... Image:Milli Library. ... For the similarly-named Surrealist journal, see Documents (journal). ... For alternate uses see: Archive (disambiguation). ... A city-state is a region controlled exclusively by a city. ... Sumer (or Å umer; Sumerian: KI-EN-GIR [1]) was the earliest known civilization of the ancient Near East, located in lower Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), from the time of the earliest records in the mid 4th millennium BC until the rise of Babylonia in the late 3rd millennium BC. The term... Small tablets made out of clay were used from late 4th millennium BC onwards as a writing medium in Sumerian, Mesopotamian, Hittite, and Minoan/Mycenaean civilizations. ... Cuneiform redirects here. ... For other uses, see Papyrus (disambiguation). ... Khafres Pyramid and the Great Sphinx of Giza, built about 2550 BC during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom,[1] are enduring symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was a civilization in Northeastern Africa concentrated along the middle to lower reaches of the Nile River...


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. Excavated ruins at Ras Shamra. ...


Private or personal libraries made up of non-fiction and fiction books (as opposed to the state or institutional records kept in archives) first appeared in classical Greece. The first ones appeared some time near the 5th century BC. The celebrated book collectors of Hellenistic Antiquity were listed in the late second century in Deipnosophistae:[1] For the book by Chuck Palahniuk titled Non-fiction, see Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories. ... For other uses, see Fiction (disambiguation). ... Parthenon This article is on the term Classical Greece itself. ... The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. // The Parthenon of Athens seen from the hill of the Pnyx to the west. ... The Deipnosophistes (deipnon “dinner” and sophistae, “the wise ones”) is variously translated as The Banquet of the Learned or Philosophers at Dinner or The Gastronomers is work of some 15 books (some complete and some surviving in summaries only) by the ancient Greek author Athenaeus of Naucratis in Egypt, written...

Polycrates of Samos and Pisistratus who was tyrant of Athens, and Euclides who was himself also an Athenian[2] and Nicorrates of Samos and even the kings of Pergamos, and Euripides the poet and Aristotle the philosopher, and Nelius his librarian; from whom they say our countryman[3] Ptolemæus, surnamed Philadelphus, bought them all, and transported them, with all those which he had collected at Athens and at Rhodes to his own beautiful Alexandria.[4] Polycrates, son of Aeaces, was the tyrant of Samos from 535 BC to 515 BC. He took power during a festival of Hera with his brothers Pantagnotus and Syloson, but soon had Pantagnotus killed and exiled Syloson to take full control for himself. ... Peisistratos or Peisistratus (Greek: )[1] (ca. ... Pergamon or Pergamum (modern day Bergama in Turkey) was a Greek city, in northwestern Anatolia, 16 miles from the Aegean Sea, located on a promontory on the north side of the river Caicus (modern day Bakir), that became an important kingdom during the Hellenistic period, under the Attalid dynasty, 282... A statue of Euripides. ... For other uses, see Aristotle (disambiguation). ... Ptolemy Philadelphus (36 - 12 BC) was the youngest child of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. ...

All these libraries were Greek; the cultivated Hellenized diners in Deipnosophistae pass over the libraries of Rome in silence. At the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, apparently the villa of Caesar's father-in-law, the Greek library has been partly preserved in volcanic ash; archaeologists speculate that a Latin library, kept separate from the Greek one, may await discovery at the site. The Villa of the Papyri is a private house of ancient Roman city of Herculaneum (current commune of Ercolano) owned by Julius Caesars father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus: its remains were first excavated in 1765 by Karl Weber. ...


Libraries were filled with parchment scrolls as at Pergamum and on papyrus scrolls as at Alexandria: export of prepared writing materials was a staple of commerce. There were a few institutional or royal libraries like the Library of Alexandria which were open to an educated public, but on the whole collections were private. In those rare cases where it was possible for a scholar to consult library books there seems to have been no direct access to the stacks. In all recorded cases the books were kept in a relatively small room where the staff went to get them for the readers, who had to consult them in an adjoining hall or covered walkway. German parchmenter, 1568 Parchment is a material for the pages of a book or codex, made from fine calf skin, sheep skin or goat skin. ... A scroll is a roll of parchment, papyrus, or paper which has been written upon. ... For other uses, see Papyrus (disambiguation). ... Inscription regarding Tiberius Claudius Balbilus of Rome (d. ...


Little is known about early Chinese libraries, save what is written about the imperial library which began with the Qin Dynasty. One of the curators of the imperial library in the Han Dynasty is believed to have been the first to establish a library classification system and the first book notation system. At this time the library catalog was written on scrolls of fine silk and stored in silk bags. There is also evidence of those libraries at Nippur of about 1900 B.C. and those at Nineveh of about 700 B.C. as showing a library classification system.[5] Qin Dynasty in 210 BC Capital Xianyang Language(s) Chinese Government Monarchy History  - Unification of China 221 BC  - Death of Qin Shi Huangdi 210 BC  - Surrender to Liu Bang 206 BC The Qin Dynasty (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chin Chao) (221 BC - 206 BC) was preceded by the... Han Dynasty in 87 BC Capital Changan (202 BC–9 AD) Luoyang (25 AD–190 AD) Language(s) Chinese Religion Taoism, Confucianism Government Monarchy History  - Establishment 206 BC  - Battle of Gaixia; Han rule of China begins 202 BC  - Interruption of Han rule 9 - 24  - Abdication to Cao Wei 220... For other uses of this word, see Silk (disambiguation). ... The city of Nippur (Sumerian Nibru, Akkadian Nibbur) (now it is in Afak town,Al Qadisyah Governorate) was one of the most ancient (some historians date it back to 5262 B.C. [1][2]) of all the Babylonian cities of which we have any knowledge, the special seat of the... , For other uses, see Nineveh (disambiguation). ... Library classification forms part of the field of library and information science. ...

The Geisel Library at UCSD, with its unique architecture, is a San Diego landmark.
The Geisel Library at UCSD, with its unique architecture, is a San Diego landmark.

In Persia many libraries were established by the Zoroastrian elite and the Persian Kings. Among the first ones was a royal library in Isfahan. One of the most important public libraries established around 667 AD in south-western Iran was the Library of Gundishapur. It was a part of a bigger scientific complex located at the Academy of Gundishapur. UCSDs Geisel Library File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... UCSDs Geisel Library File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... UCSDs distinctive Geisel Library, named for Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) and featured in UCSDs logo. ... The University of California, San Diego (popularly known as UCSD, or sometimes UC San Diego) is a public, coeducational research university located in La Jolla, a seaside resort community of San Diego, California. ... This article is about building architecture. ... San Diego redirects here. ... Taj Mahal Big Ben Saint Basils Cathedral Azadi Square in Tehran For other senses of this word, see landmark (disambiguation). ... Anthem SorÅ«d-e MellÄ«-e Īrān Â² Capital (and largest city) Tehran Official languages Persian Demonym Iranian Government Islamic Republic  -  Supreme Leader  -  President Unification  -  Unified by Cyrus the Great 559 BCE   -  Parthian (Arsacid) dynastic empire (first reunification) 248 BCE-224 CE   -  Sassanid dynastic empire 224–651 CE   -  Safavid dynasty... Zoroastrianism was adapted from an earlier, polytheistic faith by Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) in Persia very roughly around 1000 BC (although, in the absence of written records, some scholars estimates are as late as 600 BC). ... Elamite Empire, 2700BC-660BC The Elamites were an Iranian people located in Susa, in what is now Khuzestan province. ... Part of Shah Abbas large urban project in his new capital, the Chahār Bāgh Four Gardens, is a four-kilometer avenue in the city of Isfahan. ... The Academy of Gundishapur (also Jondishapoor, Jondishapur, and Jondishapour) founded in 271 AD by the Sassanid dynasty, is the oldest known teaching hospital. ... The Academy of Gundishapur (in Persian: ‎) was a renowned center of learning in the city of Gundeshapur during late antiquity, the intellectual center of the Sassanid empire. ...


In the West, the first public libraries were established under the Roman Empire as each succeeding emperor strove to open one or many which outshone that of his predecessor. 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. As a rule Roman public libraries were bilingual: they had a Latin room and a Greek room. Most of the large Roman baths were also cultural centers, built from the start with a library, with the usual two room arrangement for Greek and Latin texts. For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... The term thermae was the word the Ancient Romans used for the buildings housing their public baths. ...


In the sixth century, at the very 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 heel of Italy 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. Cassiodorus at his Vivarium library ( in Codex Amiatinus, 8th century). ...


Elsewhere in the Early Middle Ages, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire and before the rise of the large Western Christian monastery libraries beginning at Montecassino, libraries were found in scattered places in the Christian Middle East. Upon the rise of Islam, libraries in newly Islamic lands knew a brief period of expansion in the Middle East, North Africa, Sicily and Spain. Like the Christian libraries, they mostly contained books which were made of paper, and took a codex or modern form instead of scrolls; they could be found in mosques, private homes, and universities. In Aleppo, for example the largest and probably the oldest mosque library, the Sufiya, 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. [6] Some mosques sponsored public libraries. Ibn al-Nadim's bibliography Fihrist demonstrates the devotion of medieval Muslim scholars to books and reliable sources; it contains a description of thousands of books circulating in the Islamic world circa 1000, including an entire section for books about the doctrines of other religions. Unfortunately, modern Islamic libraries for the most part do not hold these antique books; many were lost, destroyed by Mongols, or removed to European libraries and museums during the colonial period.[7] Justinians wife Theodora and her retinue, in a 6th century mosaic from the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. ... The Roman Empire is not the Holy Roman Empire (843-1806). ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is... Monastery of St. ... The restored Abbey Monte Cassino is a rocky hill about eighty miles (130 km) south of Rome, Italy, a mile to the west of the town of Cassino (the Roman Cassinum having been on the hill) and about 1700 ft (520 m) altitude. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ...  Northern Africa (UN subregion)  geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa. ... Sicily ( in Italian and Sicilian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ... For other uses, see Paper (disambiguation). ... First page of the Codex Argenteus A codex (Latin for block of wood, book; plural codices) is a handwritten book, in general, one produced from Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages. ... Librarians and patrons in a typical larger urban public library. ... Ibn al-Nadim (Abu al-Faraj Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Muhammad ibn Ishaq), (died September 17, 995 or 998) was an muslim scholar (of either Arab or Persian origin) and bibliographer and the author of the Kitab al-Fihrist. ... Europe in 1000 The year 1000 of the Gregorian Calendar was the last year of the 10th century as well as the last year of the first millennium. ... Combatants Mongols Abbasid Caliphate Commanders Hulagu Khan Guo Kan Caliph Al-Mustasim Strength Unknown Unknown Casualties Unknown, but believed minimal Military, 50,000(est. ...


By the 8th century first Iranians and then Arabs had imported the craft of paper making from China, with a mill already at work in Baghdad in 794. By the 9th century completely public libraries started to appear in many Islamic cities. They were called "halls of Science" or dar al-'ilm. They were each endowed by Islamic sects with the purpose of representing their tenets as well as promoting the dissemination of secular knowledge. The 9th century Abbasid Caliph al-Mutawakkil of Iraq, even ordered the construction of a ‘zawiyat qurra literally an enclosure for readers which was `lavishly furnished and equipped.' In Shiraz Adhud al-Daula (d. 983CE) set up a library, described by the medieval historian, al-Muqaddasi, as`a complex of buildings surrounded by gardens with lakes and waterways. The buildings were topped with domes, and comprised an upper and a lower story 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...'. [8] The libraries often employed translators and copyists in large numbers, in order to render into Arabic the bulk of the available Persian, Greek and Roman non-fiction and the classics of literature. This flowering of Islamic learning ceased after a few centuries as the Islamic world began to turn against experimentation and learning. After a few centuries many of these libraries were destroyed by Mongolian invasion. Others were victim of wars and religious strife in the Islamic world. However, a few examples of these medieval libraries, such as the libraries of Chinguetti in West Africa, remain intact and relatively unchanged even today. Another ancient library from this period which is still operational and expanding is the Central Library of Astan Quds Razavi in the Iranian city of Mashhad, which has been operating for more than six centuries. (7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. ... Baghdad (Arabic: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... Events Kyoto becomes the Japanese capital. ... As a means of recording the passage of time the 9th century was the century that lasted from 801 to 900. ... Chinguetti (Arabic: شنقيط) is a ksour or ancient trading centre in northern Mauritania, lying on the Adrar Plateau east of Atar. ...  Western Africa (UN subregion)  Maghreb[1] West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. ... The Central Library of Astan Quds Razavi is a large library in Mashad, Iran. ... Mashhad (Persian: , literally the place of martyrdom) is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shiah world. ...


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. For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Byzantine redirects here. ...


Medieval library design reflected the fact that these manuscripts--created via the labor-intensive process of hand copying--were valuable possessions. Library architecture developed in response to the need for security. Librarians often chained books to lecterns, armaria (wooden chests), or shelves, in well-lit rooms. Despite this protectiveness, many libraries were willing to lend their books if provided with security deposits (usually money or a book of equal value). Monastic libraries lent and borrowed books from each other frequently and lending policy was often theologically grounded. For example, the Franciscan monasteries loaned books to each other without a security deposit since according to their vow of poverty only the entire order could own property. 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." [9] A lectern in the Abbey of SantAntimo Lectern is a reading desk in a church on which the Bible rests and from which the lessons are read during the church service. ... Armaria are a kind of closed, labeled cupboards that were used for book storage in ancient times up till the middle ages. ... A bookcase is an article of furniture, forming a shelved receptacle, usually perpendicular or horizontal, for the storage of books. ...


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 (fixed bookcases perpendicular to exterior walls pierced by closely spaced windows) was characteristic of English institutional libraries. In Continental 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. Cloister of Saint Trophimus, in Arles, France A cloister (from latin claustrum) is a part of cathedral, monastic and abbey architecture. ... A Scriptorium was a room or building, usually within a Christian monastery where, during medieval times, manuscripts were written. ... A bookcase filled with books A bookcase, or bookshelf, is a piece of furniture, almost always with horizontal shelves, used to store books. ... A carrel desk is a very small desk with high sides meant to visually isolate its user from any surrounding, in a partial or total manner. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands and, at times, peninsulas. ... // El Escorial, the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo El Real (also known as the Monasterio de El Escorial or simply El Escorial) is located about 45 kilometres (28 miles) northwest of the Spanish capital, Madrid. ...


A number of factors combined to create a "golden age of libraries" between 16 and 1700: The quantity of books had gone up, as the cost had gone down, there was a renewal in the interest of classical literature and culture, nationalism was encouraging nations to build great libraries, universities were playing a more prominent role in education, and renaissance thinkers and writers were producing great works. Some of the more important libraries include the Bodleian Library at Oxford, the Library of the British Museum, the Mazarine Library in Paris, and the National Central Library in Italy, the Prussian State Library, the German State Library, the M.E. Saltykov-Schedrin State Public Library of St. Petersburg, and many more.[10] Entrance to the Library, with the coats-of-arms of several Oxford colleges The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in England is second in size only to the British Library. ...


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 U.K. in 1847. Congress appointed a committee, lead by, William Ewart, on Public Libraries to consider the necessity of establishing libraries through the nation: In 1949 their report noted the poor condition of library service, it recommended the establishment of free public libraries all over the country, and it lead to the Public Libraries Act in 1950, which allowed all cities with populations exceeding 10,000 to levy taxes for the support of public libraries. Another important act was the 1870 Public School Law, which increased literacy, thereby the demand for libraries, so by 1877, 75+ cities had established free libraries, and by 1900 the number had reached 300. [11] This finally marks the start of the public library as we know it. And, these acts lead to similar laws in other countries, most notably the U.S. Francis Trigge Chained Library is a library in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England which was founded in 1598. ... Grantham is a medium sized market town in Lincolnshire, England with about 35,000 inhabitants (40,000 including Great Gonerby), situated on the River Witham. ... For other places with the same name, see Lincolnshire (disambiguation). ...


1876 is a well known year in the history of librarianship. The American Library Association was formed, as well as The American Library Journal, Melvil Dewey published his decimal based system of classification, and the United States Bureau of Education published its report, "Public libraries in the United States of America; their history, condition, and management." The American Library Association continues to play a major role in libraries to this day, and Dewey's classification system, although under heavy criticism of late, still remains as the prevailing method of classification used in the United States. ALA Logo The American Library Association (ALA) is a group based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. ... Melvil Dewey (December 10, 1851–December 26, 1931) was the inventor of the Dewey Decimal Classification system for library classification. ...


As the number of books in libraries increased, so did the need for compact storage and access with adequate lighting, giving birth to the stack system, which involved keeping a library's collection of books in a space separate from the reading room, an arrangement which arose in the 19th century. Book stacks quickly evolved into a fairly standard form in which the cast iron and steel frameworks supporting the bookshelves also supported the floors, which often were built of translucent blocks to permit the passage of light (but were not transparent, for reasons of modesty). With the introduction of electrical lighting, it had a huge impact on how the library operated. Also, the use of glass floors was largely discontinued, though floors were still often composed of metal grating to allow air to circulate in multi-story stacks. Ultimately, even more space was needed, and a method of moving shelves on tracks (compact shelving) was introduced to cut down on otherwise wasted aisle space. Modern-style library In its traditional sense, a library is a collection of books and periodicals. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but can mean any of a group of iron-based alloys containing more than 2% carbon (alloys with less carbon are carbon steel by definition). ... For other uses, see Steel (disambiguation). ... Most of the industrialized world is lit by electric lights, which are used both at night and to provide additional light during the daytime. ... The issue of lighting in libraries is one that is still discussed and debated today. ...


Library 2.0, a term coined in 2005, is the library's response to the challenge of Google, and an attempt to meet the changing needs and wants of the users, using web 2.0 technology. Some of the aspects of Library 2.0 include, commenting, tagging, bookmarking, discussions, using social software, plug-ins, and widgets. [12] Inspired by web 2.0, it is an attempt to make the library a more user driven institution. Library 2. ... On September 30, 2005, OReilly wrote a piece summarizing the subject. ...

The British Museum Reading Room, London. This building used to be the main reading room of the British Library; now it is itself a museum exhibit.

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (4968x1572, 3083 KB) Summary The British Museum Reading Room. ... The British Museum Reading Room, situated in the centre of the Great Court of the British Museum, used to be the main reading room of the British Library. ... British Library main building, London The British Library (BL) is the national library of the United Kingdom. ...

Types of libraries

Libraries can be divided into categories by several methods:

  • by the entity (institution, municipality, or corporate body) that supports or perpetuates them
  • by the type of documents or materials they hold
  • by the subject matter of documents they hold
  • by the users they serve
  • by traditional professional divisions:
    • Academic libraries — These libraries are located on the campuses of colleges and universities and serve primarily the students and faculty of that and other academic institutions. Some academic libraries, especially those at public institutions, are accessible to of the general public in whole or in part.
    • School libraries — Most public and private primary and secondary schools have libraries designed to support the school's curriculum.
    • Research libraries — These libraries are intended for supporting scholarly research, and therefore maintain permanent collections and attempt to provide access to all necessary material. Research libraries are most often academic libraries or national libraries, but many large special libraries have research libraries within their special field and a very few of the largest public libraries also serve as research libraries.
    • Public libraries or public lending libraries — These libraries provide service to the general public and make at least some of their books available for borrowing, so that readers may use them at home over a period of days or weeks. Typically, libraries issue library cards to community members wishing to borrow books. Many public libraries also serve as community organizations that provide free services and events to the public, such as reading groups and toddler story time.
    • Special libraries — All other libraries fall into this category. Many private businesses and public organizations, including hospitals, museums, research laboratories, law firms, and many government departments and agencies, maintain their own libraries for the use of their employees in doing specialized research related to their work. Special libraries may or may not be accessible to some identified part of the general public. Branches of a large academic or research libraries dealing with particular subjects are also usually called "special libraries": they are generally associated with one or more academic departments. Special libraries are distinguished from special collections, which are branches or parts of a library intended for rare books, manuscripts, and similar material. [1]
  • The final method of dividing library types is also the simplest. Many institutions make a distinction between circulating libraries (where materials are expected and intended to be loaned to patrons, institutions, or other libraries) and collecting libraries (where the materials are selected on a basis of their natures or subject matter). Many modern libraries are a mixture of both, as they contain a general collection for circulation, and a reference collection which is often more specialized, as well as restricted to the library premises.

Also, the governments of most major countries support national libraries. Three noteworthy examples are the U.S. Library of Congress, Canada's Library and Archives Canada, and the British Library. A typically broad sample of libraries in one state in the U.S. can be explored at Every Library In Illinois. A School library is a library that exclusively serves the students and staff of a public or private school. ... Librarians and patrons in a typical larger urban public library. ... A private library is a library held by a private owner or owners rather than by a public institution, usually only for the use of a small number of people or one person. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This is a partial List of Historical Societies from around the world. ... A digital library is a library in which collections are stored in digital formats (as opposed to print, microform, or other media) and accessible by computers [1]. The digital content may be stored locally, or accessed remotely via computer networks. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... The following tool-lending libraries lend hardware to local residents, often free of charge. ... Fordham Law School Library, also a Government Document Depository. ... A health or medical library is a library designed to assist physicians, health professionals, students, patients, consumers and medical researchers in finding health and scientific information to improve, update, assess or evaluate health care. ... // The integral relationship between Christianity and its texts has always ensured a central place for books, for learning, and for libraries. ... The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped is a free library program of braille and audio materials circulated to eligible borrowers in the United States by postage-free mail. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... A School library is a library that exclusively serves the students and staff of a public or private school. ... A research library is a library which contains an in-depth collection of material on one or several subjects. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Librarians and patrons in a typical larger urban public library. ... A modern-style library in Chambéry In the traditional sense of the word, a library is a collection of books and periodicals. ... Special Collections (often abbreviated to or ) is the name applied to the department within a public or academic library that houses rare or old materials including books, theses, incunabula, handwritten manuscripts and other documents. ... A national library is a library specifically established by the government of a country to serve as the preeminent repository of information for that country. ... Construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building, from July 8, 1888 to May 15, 1894. ... Library and Archives Canada (in French: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is a Canadian federal government department responsible for the collection and preservation of the documentary heritage of Canada through texts, pictures and other documents relevant to the culture of Canada and the politics of Canada. ... British Library main building, London The British Library (BL) is the national library of the United Kingdom. ...


Organization

Libraries almost invariably contain long aisles with rows and rows and rows of books.
Libraries almost invariably contain long aisles with rows and rows and rows of books.

Libraries have materials arranged in a specified order according to a library classification system, so that items may be located quickly and collections may be browsed efficiently. Some libraries have additional galleries beyond the public ones, where reference materials are stored. These reference stacks may be open to selected members of the public. Others require patrons to submit a "stack request," which is a request for an assistant to retrieve the material from the closed stacks. Download high resolution version (1536x2048, 404 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1536x2048, 404 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Library classification forms part of the field of library and information science. ...


Larger libraries are often broken down into departments staffed by both paraprofessionals and professional librarians. The Librarian, a 1556 painting by Giuseppe Arcimboldo A librarian is an information professional trained in library science and information science: the organization and management of information and service to people with information needs. ...

  • Circulation handles user accounts and the loaning/returning and shelving of materials.
  • Technical Services works behind the scenes cataloguing and processing new materials and deaccessioning weeded materials.
  • Reference staffs a reference desk answering user questions (using structured reference interviews), instructing users, and developing library programming. Reference may be further broken down by user groups or materials; common collections are children's literature, young adult literature, and genealogy materials.
  • Collection Development orders materials and maintains materials budgets.

For the article about the public service found in many libraries, see library reference desk. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Childrens books redirects here. ... Young adult (YA) literature is literature written for, published for, or marketed to adolescents. ... Genealogy (from Greek: γενεα, genea, family; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the study and tracing of family pedigrees. ...

Library use

Library patrons may not know how to use a library effectively. This can be due to lack of early exposure, shyness, or anxiety and fear of displaying ignorance. In United States public libraries, beginning in the 19th century these problems drove the emergence of the library instruction movement, which advocated library user education. One of the early leaders was John Cotton Dana. The basic form of library instruction is generally known as information literacy. Librarians and patrons in a typical larger urban public library. ... Also known as bibliographic instruction, library instruction is the process of teaching students how to use the library and conduct research. ... John Cotton Dana (1856-1929) was a highly influential American librarian and museum director who did much of his work in Newark, New Jersey. ... Several conceptions and definitions of information literacy have become prevalent. ...


Libraries inform their users of what materials are available in their collections and how to access that information. Before the computer age, this was accomplished by the card catalog — a cabinet containing many drawers filled with index cards that identified books and other materials. In a large library, the card catalog often filled a large room. The emergence of the Internet, however, has led to the adoption of electronic catalog databases (often referred to as "webcats" or as OPACs, for "online public access catalog"), which allow users to search the library's holdings from any location with Internet access. This style of catalog maintenance is compatible with new types of libraries, such as digital libraries and distributed libraries, as well as older libraries that have been retrofitted. Electronic catalog databases are disfavored by some who believe that the old card catalog system was both easier to navigate and allowed retention of information, by writing directly on the cards, that is lost in the electronic systems. This argument is analogous to the debate over paper books and e-books. While they have been accused of precipitously throwing out valuable information in card catalogs, most modern libraries have nonetheless made the movement to electronic catalog databases. The card catalog at Yale Universitys Sterling Memorial Library goes almost completely unused, but adds to the austere atmosphere. ... An index card is a piece of heavy paper stock, cut to a standard size and often used for recording individual items of information that can then be easily rearranged and filed. ... The OPAC System used at the Vyners School LRC An online public access catalog or OPAC is a computerized online catalog of the materials held in a library, or library system. ... A digital library is a library in which collections are stored in digital formats (as opposed to print, microform, or other media) and accessible by computers [1]. The digital content may be stored locally, or accessed remotely via computer networks. ... A distributed library is a collection of materials available for borrowing by members of a group, yet not maintained or owned by a single entity. ... A user viewing an electronic page on an eBook reading device An e-book (for electronic book: also eBook, ebook) is the digital media equivalent of a conventional printed book. ...


Finland has the highest number of registered book borrowers per capita in the world. Over half of Finland's population are registered borrowers.[2]


Library management

Basic tasks in library management include the planning of acquisitions (which materials the library should acquire, by purchase or otherwise), library classification of acquired materials, preservation of materials (especially rare and fragile archival materials such as manuscripts), the deaccessioning of materials, patron borrowing of materials, and developing and administering library computer systems. More long-term issues include the planning of the construction of new libraries or extensions to existing ones, and the development and implementation of outreach services and reading-enhancement services (such as adult literacy and children's programming). Basic tasks in library management include: planning the acquisition of materials classification of materials preservation of materials (especially rare and fragile materials such as manuscripts) borrowing materials developing and administering library computer systems More long-term issues include the planning of the construction of new libraries or extensions to existing... Library classification forms part of the field of library and information science. ...


See public library for funding issues for public libraries. Librarians and patrons in a typical larger urban public library. ...

Library of Alençon (built c. 1800)
Library of Alençon (built c. 1800)

Info: Library of Alençon Credit: Library of Alencon, 2004 Source: fr:Image:Bibliotheque alencon 250px. ... Info: Library of Alençon Credit: Library of Alencon, 2004 Source: fr:Image:Bibliotheque alencon 250px. ...

Famous libraries

Some of the greatest libraries in the world are research libraries. The most famous ones include The Humanities and Social Sciences Library of the New York Public Library in New York City, the Russian National Library in St Petersburg, the British Library in London, Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Education in New York City is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions. ... Visit of Alexander I to the library in 1812. ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and... British Library main building, London The British Library (BL) is the national library of the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The new buildings of the library. ... This article is about the capital of France. ... Construction of the Thomas Jefferson Building, from July 8, 1888 to May 15, 1894. ... For other uses, see Washington, D.C. (disambiguation). ...