The modern library as we know it today has its origins in 16th and 17th century England. In 1596, John Dee, a Welsh mathematician, approached Queen Mary I with the idea of housing rare books and manuscripts in a national library. This proposal was never pursued. In 1694, Sir Richard Bentley published his proposal entitled Proposal for Building a Royal Library. This idea proved more successful, and ultimately led to the formation of the British Library. Sir Robert Cotton, a contemporary of Bentley’s, had a private library with many valuable ancient manuscripts thought to be lost. He willed that this collection be turned into a national library, which is now known as the British Library. Its first librarian, Anthony Panizzi, developed a cataloging system still in use today (Dublin Core).

In 1753, the first national library (that was considered to be part of the public and not owned by the monarchy) was founded as part of the British Museum. The British Museum Act of the same year was responsible for joining many private collections together. The museum’s reading room was open to the public in 1759. The first French national library was founded in 1368 as the Biblioteque Mazarine, but it wasn’t until the 17th century that it became known as one of the richest collections in the world.

Before the advent of public libraries, there were 2 main ways of accessing books; the subscription library and the private library. Members of subscription libraries (limited to wealthy educated men in the 17th century) paid an annual fee to have access to scholarly subjects such as history and philosophy rather than fictional novels. The books that circulated in these subscription libraries were meant for education moreso than entertainment. Private libraries were similar to subscription libraries in that one had to pay an annual fee for entry. However, with the rise of the Industrial Revolution, private libraries began stocking books meant for working class tradesmen. Whereas early libraries functioned for the educated, the Industrial Revolution contributed to the democratization of libraries.

The history of libraries in the Unites States had its most productive year in 1876. Both the American Library Association and The American Library Journal were founded, and Dewey published his classification system. Women’s clubs were instrumental in lobbying for federal funding for libraries. Rich entrepreneurs, especially JP Morgan, also allowed their private library collections for to be accessed by the public.

The purpose of modern libraries today is not only to educate, but also to entertain. Libraries today are also maker spaces, which allows patrons to check out tools such as Ipads and sewing machines. Many libraries are also waiving fines so that even the most impoverished patrons can check out books. It is also interesting to note that as libraries became public, librarianship started to become a female dominated field. Dewey warned that too much library work (especially cataloging) would lead to burnout in the weak female brain!

Sources

Fell-Smith, Charlotte (1909) John Dee: 1527–1608. London: Constable and Company.

Kells, Stuart (2018). Libraries: A Catalogue of Wonders.

Mattern, Shannon (2014). Library as Infrastructure. https://placesjournal.org/article/library-as-infrastructure/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIv8q5pb-a6QIVQQiICR0PAA4zEAAYASAAEgKurfD_BwE&cn-reloaded=1