Regular readers will know that I love to read and that I love history. I was privileged growing up in the UK where there were plenty of public libraries, as there are here in the USA. What a fantastic concept, the public library, where anyone can borrow books for free, ensuring that everyone has equal access to the power and pleasure of reading, information and ideas.
While admittedly the internet has usurped the library as the “go to” place for information, I have been reflecting on these great places.
Totalitarian rulers have always recognized the importance of suppressing literacy and banning books that go against the version of reality that they wish to project. Throughout history, information was withheld from the masses, women were discouraged from learning to read, and enslaved people throughout human history have been denied access to reading. I believe literacy and libraries – and, while we are on the subject, the first amendment to the US constitution - are essential to our freedom.
The history of cataloguing or organizing written material is even older than the very first formal libraries. In the ancient Sumerian language dating to about 3000 BCE, record keepers were called “ordainers of the world” and their libraries were collections of clay tablets. Centuries later, in 331 BCE, Alexander the Great founded the city of Alexandria in Egypt, and within a few years it evolved into a large, sophisticated city.
Alexander’s successor, Ptolemy I, founded the library of Alexandria with the short-term purpose of organizing the vast reams of documents that had been stockpiled, with the ostentatious long-term purpose of housing all the knowledge in the world.
In order to achieve this goal, ships stopping at Alexandria had to surrender all manuscripts on board to be copied (or retained) at the library.
A discussion of libraries has to include the history of printing. The earliest woodblock printing technology originated in China, Japan, and Korea around the 2nd century.
The knowledge of print technology reached the western world around the 13th century, and woodblock printing attained widespread popularity by the 15th century. A German goldsmith, Johannes Gutenberg invented the first metal movable-type mechanical printing press and in 1455 The Gutenberg Bible became the first major book ever printed with it. Literacy grew and booksellers started printing ballads and stories, followed in the 18th century by periodicals and novels.
The establishment of lending or ‘circulation’ libraries, coupled with the advent of new printing technologies, were developments that revolutionized reading for people other than the wealthy who could afford to purchase expensive books.
American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin was a great force behind the establishment of public libraries in America.
He founded ‘The Library Company of Philadelphia’ in 1731 which allowed shareholders to borrow books. After early successes, the Library Company then began allowing non-shareholders to borrow books, requiring only a small fee as collateral.
By 1771, as the Revolution neared, Franklin reflected in his autobiography on the lending library’s crucial role in fostering democracy: “These libraries have improved the general conversation of the Americans” and “made the common (American) tradesmen and farmers as intelligent as most gentlemen from other countries.”
This innovative structure quickly inspired imitators and, by 1800, there were more than 40 lending libraries throughout the United States. The role of public libraries was forever embedded into American culture when, from 1889 to 1919, the ultra-wealthy industrialist Andrew Carnegie donated the equivalent of billions of dollars in today’s value to fund the building of almost 1,700 public libraries.
The USA boasts some remarkable libraries including the New York Public Library where if all the books housed there were lined up, they would stretch 8 miles. As a young woman back in England, I was lucky enough to spend lots of time in the British Library in London, which is the national library of the United Kingdom. Their collection includes around 25 million books, along with manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 300 BC.
While today I can purchase books in print, online or by streaming in an audio version, libraries have always had a special place in my heart. They have been where I can explore other times and places through books and hide from the world. In these digital times, libraries have evolved to become hubs of information and remain valuable community resources, and most remain committed to making information universally accessible and preserving it for the future.
There is a lot more information at www.britannica.com.
I say goodbye with a quote from the 35th President of the USA, John F. Kennedy: “If this nation is to be wise as well as strong, if we are to achieve our destiny, then we need more new ideas for more wise men reading more good books in more public libraries. These libraries should be open to all—except the censor. We must know all the facts and hear all the alternatives and listen to all the criticisms. Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors.
For the Bill of Rights is the guardian of our security as well as our liberty.”
God bless America and support your local library!
Lesley grew up in London, England and made Georgia her home in 2009. She can be contacted at lesley@francis.com or via her full-service marketing agency at www.lesleyfrancispr.com