Indian librarian Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan introduced the Colon Classification system, which classifies all knowledge into broad, fundamental concepts. The Colon system then divides these concepts into several distinguishing characteristics, which Ranganathan called facets. The classification system uses colons (:) to distinguish between the various facets in a single notation. The name of the Colon Classification system is derived from its use of the colon in its notation scheme. Although use of the Colon Classification system is limited to a few Indian libraries, Ranganathan’s concept of facet analysis in classifying knowledge has been widely influential. Some of its key concepts have been adopted by subsequent editions of the Dewey and Universal systems, among others.

Libraries that serve users in very specialized fields of knowledge may also develop their own classification systems. They are especially likely to do so if the major library classifications do not adequately provide for the organization of the literature they collect. For example, organizations specializing in the study of mathematics developed the Mathematics Subject Classification to categorize material on advanced mathematical theory covered in specialized academic journals. The Mathematics Subject Classification allows mathematicians to classify works to a much greater degree of specificity than any of the major systems would allow.

Numerous classification systems have been created for use in other special libraries as well. The National Library of Medicine classification system, for example, has been adopted by most major medical libraries in the United States. That system, which is structured like the Library of Congress Classification, uses the letter W (unused by the Library of Congress system) for medical works. It also takes advantage of unused parts of the Library of Congress Classification class Q, for science. For other subject areas, the National Library of Medicine system applies the Library of Congress Classification unchanged.

Subject Headings

Many single works in a library deal with multiple subjects. These works may be difficult to classify using traditional classification systems such as Dewey Decimal Classification or Library of Congress Classification, because these systems typically assign only one classification number to each item. As a result, only one subject is represented, and the work’s other topics are not expressed in the classification number. Users searching the library’s catalog under one of the alternate topics would never find that particular work. To avoid this problem, most libraries also identify their materials with subject headings, which assign multiple index terms to a work. This enables users to find works using any of a number of different search terms. Subject headings may be single words, compound words, or phrases that describe the subjects of a given document. Subject headings are particularly useful for executing online searches, which allow for a high degree of flexibility in identifying search terms.

In the United States, the two most frequently used systems for creating subject headings are those developed by the Library of Congress (LC) and the Sears List. The LC subject

headings, first introduced in 1914, provide detailed terms for a vast number of topics. The LC headings are used in academic libraries, medium-sized to large public libraries, and many special libraries. The Sears List, developed in 1923 by American librarian Minnie Earl Sears, consists of a much smaller set of terms and is designed primarily for public and school libraries. The two lists are not entirely compatible and cannot be used in the same catalog.

Unlike index entries in an individual book, subject headings are generally used only if a major portion of the work deals with that particular subject. Under Library of Congress guidelines, at least 20 percent of a document must address a given subject for a subheading on that subject to be assigned to the book. Examples of LC subject headings include:

Rivers Functional literacy Group homes for children Education, Preschool Burnout (Psychology)

All of the works in a library’s collection that deal with rivers in general would be listed in the catalog under the “Rivers” subject heading. Works dealing with a specific river, such the Mississippi River, would be indexed under the name of that river. “Rivers” is a relatively straightforward subject; subject headings may also represent complex concepts for works dealing with more than one theme. In order to express complex subjects, catalogers add subdivisions to the basic headings. These subdivisions can indicate, for example, specific time frames (20th century, 1860s, Middle Ages), geographical areas (Cairo, Pennsylvania, Canada), or the form of the document (bibliography, dictionary, fiction). Subdivisions may be added to the basic heading or combined with other subdivisions. They are usually separated from the subject heading by dashes. For example, the book National Dreams: Myth, Memory, and Canadian History (1997), by Daniel Francis, is listed under the following LC subject headings. Users could find the book by searching under any one of these headings:

Group identity—Canada Popular culture—Canada Canada—History

Online computer catalogs provide far greater power for subject searching than do book or card catalogs. Most online catalogs allow users to execute keyword searches by using one or more of the important words in the subject-heading string. In keyword searching, library users can locate the subject heading “Universities and colleges—Graduate work—Examinations” simply by entering the words universities and examinations. This will retrieve catalog entries for all the library’s works on that subject. The keyword approach results in larger, less-targeted retrievals, often requiring the catalog user to review many records to find the works desired. The great advantage of keyword searching is that catalog users do not have to be familiar with the exact wording of the subject heading to

locate desired items. In addition, they can easily browse large numbers of related works without having to physically locate the items on the shelves.

D.

Locating Library Materials

Visitors to a library can locate materials in different ways, depending on their own particular needs and interests. Someone looking for recreational reading material may wish to simply browse through the library’s selection of recently published best-sellers. Libraries typically maintain a section that showcases these popular materials. Most users, however, come to the library in search of information about a particular subject. The reference desk is often the best place for these users to start their search, because reference librarians are trained to help library users locate the materials they need. However, users must also learn how to search for information themselves if they are to make the best use of the resources the library has to offer.

Searching for and locating relevant information requires careful thought and strategy. Users can often find answers to their questions by first looking through general reference sources, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and other materials that are usually located near the library’s reference desk. These sources can provide overviews of the subject that may lead to more-detailed sources of information. Users looking for a wide range of literature on a particular subject can search through the library’s catalog, which provides an index of the library’s collection. In addition, users can search through various other indexes, abstracts, and databases. These sources provide references to relevant magazine and journal articles. The Internet can also be a useful source of information.

1.

Searching the Catalog

Library users can generally find the information they need by searching the library’s catalog, which is an index to all the materials in the library’s collection. Catalog entries typically list each item’s author, its title, its subjects, the date it was published, the name of its publisher, and for some materials, the names of editors, illustrators, or translators. Users can search for items in most online catalogs by entering keywords in any of these categories. Users of specialized collections might have the option of searching for other characteristics of library materials as well. A rare-book collection, for example, might allow users to search for materials by the name of the printer or binder of the book.

By searching through the catalog, users can easily determine whether the library owns works by a particular author or whether it has a work with a specific title. For example, consider a user searching for the book What Is Natural: Coral Reef Crisis (1999), by Jan Sapp. This user could simply conduct a title search of the catalog by typing in What Is

Natural: Coral Reef Crisis. Or, by searching under the last name of the author, Sapp, the user could see whether the library has this book or other works by that author.

Searching for materials on a particular subject can be more difficult than searching for materials by authors or title. Before beginning a subject search, the user should first carefully consider various aspects of the information needed, identifying keywords and significant concepts associated with the given subject. These words and concepts can function as possible search terms. If searching under one term turns up too many possible works to realistically examine, a more specific term might be more useful. Likewise, if a search term reveals too few items, the user might achieve more productive results by searching under a more general term.

Some libraries feature union catalogs, which list the holdings of multiple libraries. Users can search union catalogs for materials that are unavailable at their local library but that may be accessible through interlibrary loan. For more information on library catalogs, see the subsection Catalogs in the Organization of Resources section of this article.

2.

Searching Indexes, Abstracts, and Databases

Even though library catalogs contain listings for every item in a given library’s collection, catalogs do not list individual articles in the library’s magazines and scholarly journals. To find details of articles on a given subject, library users must consult indexes, abstracts, or databases. These resources provide information on articles contained in periodicals, which are publications such as newspapers, magazines, and journals that are issued at regular intervals. Each index, abstract, or database typically focuses on a particular subject or range of related subjects. For example, some indexes list information about articles on art, whereas others contain information about articles on medical issues.

An index of periodicals lists citations containing bibliographic information about each article, including article title, author, publication title, and date of publication. An abstract contains the same information that a periodical index contains, as well as a paragraph or even a few paragraphs summarizing the article. Library databases are indexes and abstracts organized for easy access on a computer. Library databases are typically stored on CD-ROM or accessed via the Internet. Nearly all libraries have printed abstracts and indexes of periodical literature, but periodical information at most libraries is more complete on computer databases.

The Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature is the best-known print index to English-language periodicals of general interest. Published twice per month, the Reader’s Guide lists articles in more than 150 magazines commonly subscribed to by public and school libraries. It arranges its listings alphabetically by author and subject, but not by title. The Reader’s Guide generally lists six pieces of information in each citation: article title, author, publication title, volume number, page number(s), and date of publication. The Reader’s Guide is cumulated regularly. This means that listings in the latest issues are

merged with the previous issue, so that to find recent articles, users need to consult only two or three issues of the Reader’s Guide. Each of the older, bound volumes of the Reader’s Guide covers a two-year period. Some smaller libraries subscribe only to the Abridged Reader’s Guide, which indexes about 45 magazines. The Reader’s Guide series contains listings as far back as 1890. An earlier index, Poole’s Index, provides reference information for English-language articles published from 1802 to 1890. Although the Reader’s Guide is still available in public and school libraries, most library patrons now use computer databases to find magazine and journal articles.

Computer databases typically cover a particular subject or range of subjects. For example, the PsychLIT database contains bibliographic information on articles in the field of psychology. The Modern Language Association Bibliography contains citations for articles in the arts and humanities. The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) maintains a database of articles from education journals. Most databases offer only indexed or abstracted information, but some databases, known as full-text databases, provide the entire text of articles. Searching strategies can vary considerably from one database to the next, but most databases give tips to guide users in searching the particular database. In addition, reference librarians are specially trained to assist users in searching through databases.

Many public, academic, and school libraries have compendiums of computer databases, such as the InfoTrac catalogs of databases. Introduced in 1985, InfoTrac catalogs integrate many different kinds of databases into a single collection that can be accessed on CD-ROM or via the Internet. For example, patrons of public or academic libraries can use a single InfoTrac catalog to search computer databases of general interest magazines, government publications, academic journals, legal publications, and health-related periodicals. InfoTrac catalogs in school libraries may be tailored to support classroom assignments at various grade levels. These catalogs typically include computer databases containing the full text of articles in leading magazines, newspapers, and reference books.

3.

Finding Materials on the Library Shelves

Catalog citations indicate each item’s call number, which classifies the subject of the work and also identifies the item’s location on the library shelves. After finding an item in the catalog, a user can refer to maps in the library indicating the general placement of works within a wide range of call numbers. For example, a library using the Library of Congress Classification system might place together on one floor all of its works with call numbers ranging from H (social sciences) through P (languages and literature). Another floor might hold the library’s works with call numbers ranging from Q (science) through Z (library science). Signs on each row of shelves indicate the more specific range of materials located there. For example, one row of shelves might contain works with Library of Congress call numbers from PS3511 through PS3523. Each book in the library’s collection will display the call number on the book’s spine or on the outside of the back cover. Because call numbers indicate the subject content of a given work as well

as its location, once a user finds one relevant item on the shelf, he or she may find other useful items simply by browsing through the materials in the same location.

Finding periodicals in the library is similar to finding books. After a user finds a useful article citation in a library database, abstract, or index, he or she must determine whether the library owns the periodical in which the article appears. The user can determine whether the library owns the publication by conducting a search of the library’s catalog by publication title. Most libraries arrange all of their periodicals in one general location in the library. Therefore, if the library subscribes to the periodical in question, the user can generally find the publication by searching for the magazine or journal title on the shelves of the periodical section. Some libraries also maintain periodical archives on microfilm (a small roll of film printed with rows of very small images that can be viewed using a library’s microfilm viewer), microfiche (similar to microfilm, but printed on a small sheet), and CD-ROM.

The shelves on which a library’s materials are arranged are known as stacks. Open stacks are accessible to patrons for selecting their own books and other materials. Some libraries have such large collections that many books have to be kept in closed stacks, which are not open to the public. To obtain books from closed stacks, the patron fills out a call slip, writing on it the call number, author, and title of the requested book. A librarian then gives the patron a number, which is also written on the slip. A library assistant finds the book in the closed stacks. In large libraries the number given to the patron may be flashed on a lighted board when the book is ready to be picked up.

V.

BORROWING LIBRARY MATERIALS

The great majority of libraries allow users to borrow materials from their collections, and many public libraries consider this their most important service to users. Libraries that lend their materials to users are known as circulating libraries or lending libraries. Users borrow library materials from the circulation department, which keeps track of the library’s collections. The circulation desk is typically located near the entrance of the library. To ensure equitable distribution of materials among different users, libraries establish policies about who can borrow items, which items may be borrowed, for how long they may be borrowed, and what happens when an item is not returned on time.

A.

Registration

To borrow library materials, a user must be registered with the library’s circulation department. The registration procedure involves recording the user’s name, address, telephone number, and other basic information. Upon registration, the library usually provides users with a library circulation card in addition to a printed handout with

information about the library’s hours, any fines charged for overdue books, descriptions of various library services, and other information. Most public libraries limit registration to residents of the area served by the library. Public libraries generally allow children to borrow materials, but parents or guardians usually must sign the registration form to verify their consent and to assume responsibility for any borrowed items. College, university, school, and special libraries generally require users to be affiliated with the parent institution to borrow library materials. Libraries of all types usually exclude those who have abused the library’s circulation policies in the past by failing to return items.

B.

Circulating and Noncirculating Items

In most lending libraries, selected items of the collection are unavailable for circulation. For example, libraries generally do not lend general reference books, in order that these popular items are available to all users at any given time. Libraries also rarely lend current issues of magazines and journals, although some libraries bind older issues together and allow users to borrow them. In addition, libraries usually do not lend rare, fragile, or expensive items that they could not afford to replace if the items were lost or damaged.

C.Circulation Systems

Automated Library Circulation

 

In the past, a lending library attached pocket envelopes containing circulation cards to each circulating item in its collection. When a user wished to check out a book from the library, the circulation desk would record the due date and the user’s name on the card. Libraries used the information printed on these cards to monitor and control the circulation of their collections. Libraries would also replace the card with a slip of paper indicating the due date for the user. To remind users of the borrowing period, the circulation desk also generally stamped a due date on a slip attached to the item.

Today, most libraries use optical scanners to read and record information on barcode labels attached to library materials and on user identification cards. Using this automated system, libraries can quickly and accurately determine the status of borrowed items, monitor overdue materials, and inventory library collections. As in the past, however, circulation desks continue to record the due date on a slip attached to each borrowed item.

D.

Borrowing Periods

Most public libraries allow users to borrow materials for two to four weeks. However, some libraries establish shorter borrowing periods for selected popular items—such as new best-selling novels, popular nonfiction, and videos—so that greater numbers of users may have access to them. Libraries also try to provide greater access to popular materials by stocking multiple copies of these items, so that even if one or two copies are lent out, additional copies may remain for other users. Public libraries often allow users to borrow fine art, such as framed prints or photographs, for longer periods, sometimes as long as six months.

Most libraries allow users to reserve or place holds on items already borrowed by another user. When a user places a hold on a particular item, the library adds her name to a list of people waiting for that same item. When the item becomes available, the library contacts the user by phone, mail, or e-mail. Most libraries allow users to renew borrowed materials for another complete borrowing period if there are no other users waiting for the same items. Libraries with automated circulation systems typically allow users to renew their borrowed materials over the telephone or through e-mail.

E.

Overdue Policies

When borrowed items become overdue, libraries send users an overdue notice, sometimes followed by a telephone call. If the item is still not returned after a time established by the library’s circulation policies, the library sends the borrower a final overdue notice or a bill listing any fines the user has incurred. Most libraries suspend a user’s borrowing privileges after the user fails to return items. An increasing number of libraries also have a policy of using collection agencies or credit bureaus to collect fines for long-overdue materials.

F.

Interlibrary Loans

Most circulation departments provide interlibrary loan services, which allow users to request items from other libraries that participate in interlibrary loan networks. Interlibrary loans give users access to resources not available in their own libraries. However, most libraries limit the kinds of materials that are available in an interlibrary loan. For example, videos, sound recordings, and computer software are often not available through interlibrary loan even though they may be borrowed directly from the library that maintains these items. In large library systems, the circulation department at

the central library generally coordinates interlibrary distribution of library materials to users of the various branches who request these items.

Library users typically request interlibrary loan materials at the circulation desk of their local library. Users with connections to the Internet can access the catalogs of remote libraries online. That way the users can determine whether these libraries own desired material and whether that material is available through interlibrary loan. In addition, online users can often request items directly from a remote library that participates in an interlibrary loan network with the user’s local library. When users request materials through an interlibrary loan program, the materials from the remote library are usually delivered to the user’s local library through mail or delivery services. Increasingly, however, libraries share copies of materials using the Internet or facsimile transmissions (faxes). This enables libraries to share subscriptions to expensive journals, reduce institutional costs, and save space on library shelves while providing access to many more titles than any one library can afford.

VI. REFERENCE

Reference Librarian 

Full Size

Because libraries provide access to ever-expanding sources of knowledge, finding specific pieces of information is often a complex procedure. To assist users in finding information, most academic and large public libraries employ professional reference librarians who have special training in research techniques and information retrieval. Reference librarians help individuals and organizations find information and make effective use of library resources. Reference librarians are also available to recommend notable works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, as well as videos and sound recordings.

Materials in the library’s reference section include items such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and handbooks. These materials are generally stored next to the library’s reference desk. They are typically unavailable for circulation so that all users can access them at any given time. Some public libraries offer quick reference services over the telephone. For questions that require more extensive research, a reference librarian will often refer users to staff members who specialize in a particular subject, or they will consult online databases. At some public and academic libraries, reference librarians charge a small fee to perform research using online resources.

Large public libraries may employ reference librarians who specialize in children’s materials. Because children are often relatively inexperienced in library use, they frequently turn to reference librarians for assistance in finding materials. Many children ask questions related to their school work, but they also request information about hobbies, popular culture, and social issues that interest them. Parents, guardians, and child-care providers also turn to children’s reference librarians for assistance in finding information on issues such as child development, education, nutrition, and health.

Reference work requires skill in interpersonal communication, familiarity with the expanding array of information sources, and a command of general knowledge. Reference librarians attempt to anticipate users’ questions and to improve the quality of library services by preparing guides, brochures, multimedia presentations, and self-tutorials on effective library use. In many academic institutions, reference librarians offer courses in library use and research strategies.

VII.

CAREERS IN LIBRARY WORK

Librarianship—the science of managing the operations of a library—did not emerge as a distinct and separate profession until the end of the 19th century. Until then, the individuals who oversaw library operations usually combined these duties with their work in other professions. For example, in the Middle Ages priests or university professors often assumed the responsibilities of managing library operations. As education for librarians became standardized during the 20th century, the profession eventually became well established. Librarianship developed further as professional librarians established networks and associations through which they shared a body of knowledge, published professional journals, and instituted codes of ethics.

A.Librarians and Library Staff

The typical library staff consists of three levels of employees: professional librarians, support staff, and part-time assistants. The proportion of each of these in any given institution depends on the type of library, its budget, and the types of users it serves.

Professional librarians usually constitute the smallest number of a library’s employees. Most professional librarians have earned at least a master’s degree in library science or information science, the study of information and the manner in which it is generated, recorded, stored, retrieved, transmitted, and used. Some professional librarians have earned additional graduate degrees as well. Professional librarians require a wide range of skills and talents. They must have solid bibliographic and technological skills, as well as strong communication and interpersonal abilities. Advances in library technologies have also led to a high demand for professional skills such as database searching and competence in using the Internet and other computer networks and systems.

The librarian in charge of administering the entire institution is usually referred to as the director. Other professional librarians typically administer the library’s various departments. In small libraries, however, the director may be solely responsible for managing all of the library’s departments. In addition to their managerial work, professional librarians assume primary responsibility for providing reference assistance, developing and managing the collections, and overseeing cataloging.

Nonprofessional support staff commonly assume most of the responsibility for directly serving library users. Their activities include essential functions such as inputting, coding, and verifying bibliographic and other data; ordering library materials; assisting with catalog development; performing circulation duties such as checking out books to users; and performing other services vital to the library’s daily operation.

Most libraries employ part-time staff members in addition to full-time professional and support staff. Part-time staff members typically shelve books, perform low-level clerical duties, and carry out other relatively simple but essential tasks. In academic libraries, large numbers of part-time student-assistants play a critical role in the day-to-day functioning of the library. Public libraries also hire so-called library pages to help perform tasks that require no professional training, such as shelving books and periodicals. In addition, many public libraries make use of community volunteers to assist library staff in simple tasks. Many professional librarians were first attracted to the profession while they were working as library assistants, pages, or volunteers.

In small libraries, librarians might perform a range of tasks, with one or two librarians and possibly a clerk handling all of the activities of the library. Because of the small size of the staff, a single librarian might combine clerical and professional tasks. In large libraries, the support staff have taken on many of the tasks previously performed by professionals. Much of this transfer of responsibility has been made possible by the introduction of relatively simple and efficient computer technology, which has permitted support staff to accomplish large portions of cataloging that were once done by professionals. Additionally, while professional librarians usually manage library functions such as circulation and acquisition, support staff or part-time workers often perform the bulk of the actual tasks in these departments.

The patterns of library staffing vary from country to country. In general, libraries in more developed countries distinguish clearly between the tasks done by professional and

nonprofessional staff. In less developed countries, the smaller size of staffs and a lack of new, efficient computer technology have made this separation more difficult.

B.

Education of Librarians

For centuries, young people learned to be librarians while on the job with more experienced practitioners. Librarians often performed difficult tasks, but their duties usually did not require specialized professional training. Since the late 19th century, however, the tasks performed by librarians have become more complex and more dependent on technology. As a result, the study of library science has moved from the work setting to professional schools in universities.

In the United States and Canada, education designed for the professional librarian is at the postgraduate level. Prospective librarians attend one- or two-year professional education programs leading to a master’s degree in library science or its equivalent, such as information science. Traditionally, professional librarians studied subjects in the liberal arts, such as literature or history, before beginning their professional education. An increasing number of librarians now have undergraduate degrees in the natural sciences, computer science, business, or other related areas.

1.Growth of Library Education Programs

American librarian Melvil Dewey began the first formal education program for the training of librarians in 1887 at Columbia College (now Columbia University) in New York, where he was librarian. The program moved to the New York State Library in Albany when Dewey became director there in 1889. The success of Dewey’s program in training highly skilled professional librarians soon led other universities, institutes of technology, and large public libraries to establish their own professional degree programs in library science.

Early library schools largely based their teaching on providing students with experience in actual libraries. However, this practice began to change in 1923 with the publication of Training for Library Service, a book by economist Charles Williamson. The so-called Williamson Report advocated continuing the trend of moving library-science programs to university settings. It also called for an increase in educational theory for librarianship, the development of professional journals and other literature on the profession, and the employment of full-time faculty as instructors of library science.

Over time, universities implemented the changes called for in the Williamson Report, and the quality of education for librarianship gradually increased. In the first part of the 20th century, graduates of these schools received bachelor’s degrees in library science. These

degrees designated completion of four years of undergraduate work and an additional yearlong course of study in library science. In the 1950s universities began making library science a professional degree, generally called a master’s degree of library science, or M.L.S. degree.

2.

Modern Programs

The skills and specialized knowledge demanded of librarians have continued to increase, and schools of library science have adjusted their curriculums accordingly. Most schools of librarianship have responded to the heightened use of technology by increasing the number of courses in information science. Information science combines aspects of librarianship with technical elements such as computer programming, telecommunications, database management, and computer graphics. It also includes the study of ways in which humans process information and ways in which people interact with machines. Information science programs integrate study from the fields of communication, computer science, cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, mathematics, philosophy, engineering, business, and others. This interdisciplinary background gives graduates a broad knowledge of library automation, systems, budgets, online searching, research, and cataloging. Since the 1980s, most schools of library science have become schools of library and information science or simply schools of information science.

Many schools permit or require students to gain some practical training in a library before applying for their first job as a librarian. A growing number of schools also require courses in research methods. To have sufficient time to teach the new skills needed by librarians without sacrificing any of the traditional bibliographic skills, a number of schools have increased the amount of class hours required for a degree.

All programs to educate librarians share certain characteristics. They provide courses in cataloging and classification, reference, management, and collections development. Programs typically offer courses in the history of books and librarianship to give students a background in the profession’s past. Students in most schools of library and information science have the opportunity to develop at least some degree of specialization. Some may take advanced courses in a particular library function, such as reference work, while others may take courses related to a particular type of library, such as a course in medical librarianship or public librarianship.

Few four-year colleges and universities offer programs specifically for the training of library support staff. Because the range of work done by support staff varies so greatly, there is no uniform educational system for these nonprofessional positions. Many support staff have a four-year college degree, and some have graduate degrees. Others have only a high school education or a two-year associate degree from a community college. Library support staff often have no training specifically designed to prepare them for work in a library except for the training they receive on the job. In the United States and

Canada, some library support staff are graduates of formal library training programs offered by two-year community colleges.

Library employees at every level benefit from ongoing study in continuing education programs. At one time it was possible for new employees to come to the job knowing almost everything they would need for a lifetime of employment, but that is not the case today. All library systems are continually changing, and employees need to update their education and training to keep abreast of these developments. Most schools of library and information science offer a range of continuing education courses designed for library employees who wish to modernize or expand their skills. In addition, various professional associations offer continuing education courses for library employees.

C.

Professional Associations

Like members of other professions, librarians have banded together in professional associations to solve common problems and to advance the profession. These professional associations address issues such as financial support for libraries, censorship, and cooperative acquisition of library materials. They also attempt to influence legislation that affects libraries, establish policies and standards relating to libraries and librarians, and support continuing education for librarians. Almost all of these organizations publish journals or monographs relating to their particular areas of interest. Professional library associations hold conferences on a regular basis so that librarians may come together with colleagues to develop policy and share ideas.

Professional associations for librarians operate at the local, regional, national, and international levels. Most professional librarians belong to at least one professional organization. This section of the article lists some of the largest and most influential library associations. For more information about library associations worldwide, see the Libraries of the World section of this article.

The American Library Association (ALA), founded by Melvil Dewey and others in 1876, is the oldest and largest library association in the world. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the ALA’s membership comprises librarians from all types of libraries. The ALA holds a large annual conference each summer, as well as a midwinter meeting each year. The association is highly influential in the publishing field and in lobbying on behalf of librarians.

The Canadian Library Association (CLA), founded in 1946, is the national library association of Canada. Like other national library associations, it holds an annual conference featuring workshops, exhibits, and awards ceremonies to present research grants and scholarships. It has its headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario.

The Library Association is the national library association of the United Kingdom. Founded in 1877, the Library Association consists of members throughout the United

Kingdom and in more than 100 countries around the world. It maintains headquarters in London, England.

The Special Libraries Association (SLA), founded in 1909, has a large membership drawn from various types of special libraries. It offers continuing education courses and publishes a range of professional materials for special librarians. The SLA has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE), founded in 1915, is the professional association for faculty members in schools of library and information science. Its purpose is to promote excellence in education for library and information science. The ALISE maintains headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

The American Society for Information Science (ASIS) was founded in 1937 as the American Documentation Institute, and changed its name to its present one in 1967. Its members work to develop new and better theories, techniques, and technologies to improve access to information. It has its headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL), founded in 1932, represents the libraries of North American research institutions. The organization addresses issues common to research libraries, such as teaching, research, community service, and scholarship. It maintains headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The Society of American Archivists (SAA), begun in 1936, is an association of archivists, librarians, record managers, historians, and manuscript curators. Located in Chicago, Illinois, it provides leadership to help ensure the identification, preservation, and use of the nation’s historical records.

D.

International Library Programs

Several professional organizations and private foundations around the world work to promote international cooperation in establishing new libraries and in improving service at existing libraries. These organizations also provide librarians with international forums in which they can exchange ideas, develop networks for sharing resources, and create compatible standards and protocols for various library procedures. Some of the most prominent international library programs are those sponsored by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA); the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the International Federation for Documentation and Information (FID); the International Council on Archives (ICA); the British Council; the United States Department of State; and the International Association of School Librarianship (IASL). Private foundations also promote increased and improved library services around the world.

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is an independent association that represents libraries and library associations around the world. The organization maintains headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. It advises libraries on matters such as interlibrary loan practices, copyright laws, library building design, and development of legal deposit regulations that entitle national libraries to receive copies of every work registered for copyright in their respective countries. It also stimulates cooperation among writers, scholars, publishers, and libraries, and it assists librarians in promoting literacy and universal access to knowledge. In addition, IFLA advocates the formation of a worldwide information network.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) promotes international cooperation in the areas of education, science, culture, and communication. As part of this mission, UNESCO funds programs for the construction of libraries around the world and for the improvement of existing library services. For example, its support has enabled countries in the Middle East to establish the Arab Information Systems Network, through which member libraries can share collections and services. UNESCO maintains headquarters in Paris, France.

The International Federation for Documentation and Information (known as FID) is one of the world’s oldest and most influential international library organizations. FID was founded in 1895 in Brussels, Belgium, by bibliographers Henri LaFontaine and Paul Otlet, who first developed the Universal Decimal Classification system. Today, FID maintains headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. Over the years, FID has been responsible for creating standards for microfiche reproduction; conducting research on the theoretical aspects of information; and promoting research on the impact of information, communications, and knowledge on national economies and society.

The International Council on Archives (ICA) is an alliance of archival institutions, professional associations, and individual professional archivists. Founded in 1948, the ICA is concerned with the management of records and archives in all media and formats throughout their life cycle. The council also facilitates and promotes the use of records and archives by scholars and the general public. Areas of ongoing interest include maintenance of electronic archives, disaster preparedness planning, and automation of archival resources. The ICA has its headquarters in Paris, France.

The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international network for education, culture, and development services. It has established libraries in many countries of Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa, all managed by local staff. It has also developed an online library based in Helsinki, Finland, that is available to other libraries around the world. The British Council has headquarters in London and Manchester, England.

The U.S. Department of State, through its Office of International Information Programs, maintains about 150 information resource centers in more than 110 countries. These centers were administered by the United States Information Agency until 1999, when the agency was abolished and its functions transferred to the State Department. The centers

feature electronic equipment that can rapidly deliver information promoting U.S. interests to foreign governments, media, and educational institutions. In developing countries, the State Department supports public libraries that encourage study and understanding of American society and institutions. The department has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The International Association of School Librarianship (IASL) encourages the development of school libraries and library programs throughout the world. Founded in 1971, the IASL also promotes collaboration among libraries in all countries, including the lending and exchanging of library materials. The organization maintains headquarters in Seattle, Washington.

Private philanthropic organizations also provide leadership in the establishment and maintenance of libraries around the world. In the early 20th century the Carnegie Corporation of New York was instrumental in establishing free public libraries in Africa, Latin America, and the South Pacific, but the organization stopped this program in 1917. Today the Ford Foundation, based in New York City, provides vital financial support for libraries in the developing nations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

VIII.

TRENDS AND CHALLENGES

Libraries of all types are experiencing a period of radical change. Technological and social developments that began in the late 20th century have fundamentally altered the ways libraries accomplish their traditional missions of selecting, organizing, preserving, and providing access to information.

A.Growth of Information and Technology

Library Computer Services 

Library Computer ServicesSusan Vogel/Liaison Agency

Electronic sources of information and low-cost microcomputers have introduced unprecedented changes to the services and operations of modern libraries. Computing trends that began in the 1980s have enabled low-cost digital storage of information, rapid transmission of data across computer networks, and sophisticated retrieval and processing of electronic documents and information. These changes—especially the rapid spread of the Internet—have reshaped the feasibility and economics of information distribution so radically that they have permanently altered the ways in which librarians perform their work. Against this background of increased information availability and technological innovation, libraries are developing new, at times revolutionary, methods of providing users with access to an ever-expanding amount of information.

1.

Automation of Library Functions

Libraries first sought to automate their internal operations in the 1960s. The Machine-Readable Catalog (MARC) project, begun in 1966 by 16 American libraries, established a standard format for electronic versions of the card catalog. Because a number of libraries collaborated to form the MARC standard, they shared the enormous burden of creating records for the electronic catalog. By 1972 libraries around the world were using and contributing to the development of the revised MARC standard, known as MARC II.

The potential of saving tremendous amounts of time and money through shared cataloging led to many other cooperative projects among libraries. In the United States and Canada, several regional organizations grew out of these efforts, including the Ohio College Library Center (OCLC), a computer network for Ohio’s college and university libraries; the Research Library Information Network (RLIN) of the Research Libraries Group, a consortium of libraries founded by Columbia, Harvard, and Yale universities and the New York Public Library; and the University of Toronto Library Automation System (UTLAS). In addition to the initial goal of providing shared cataloging, regional organizations offer an array of services to libraries, including online acquisitions services and interlibrary loan systems.

Many of these regional organizations evolved to become national and international networks. Large organizations that share catalogs with one another are known as bibliographic utilities. Their massive catalogs compile materials from many member libraries, creating a vast resource for catalogers and researchers alike. For example, OCLC eventually grew to become the Online Computer Library Center, which serves as an international library computer service, bibliographic utility, and research center that by the 1990s contained more than 41 million records in its union catalog, known as WorldCat. Similarly, the UTLAS consortium of Canadian libraries was purchased by the U.S. firm Auto-Graphics, which set up a subsidiary in Canada to run this shared catalog of Canadian library databases. The new name of this service is AG Canada.

In the early 1980s some libraries began to feature online public access catalogs (OPACs), which allow users to access the libraries’ catalogs via computer. Previously, the high cost

of acquiring the new computer technology and the difficulty in using the first software programs meant that libraries had to restrict use of online catalogs to a few specially trained librarians. By the 1980s, however, advances in technology and reductions in cost allowed libraries to begin offering public access to online catalogs. For example, the University of California system introduced its massive online public access catalog, MELVYL, in 1981.

Today, online public access catalogs are a common feature of all types of libraries. They have replaced and integrated four separate card catalogs: one each for author, title, and subject, as well as a card for the call-number shelf list. Online catalogs allow for rapid searching in each of these designated fields, as well as in some fields—such as the type of publication or the language in which a work was written—that were not searchable in the past. Since they were first introduced, online catalogs have been enhanced by the addition of keyword searching, which allows a user to search for works using any word in a given field. Online catalogs also typically allow users to determine whether a given item has been checked out by another user, and if so, when the item is due back in the library.

2.

Automated Research

As early as the 1960s some researchers gained improved access to information with the introduction of electronic databases that contain abstracts and indexes of library holdings. These databases—known as abstracting and indexing (A&I) databases—contain publishing data for articles and books as well as abstracts that summarize each work’s content. By the early 1970s, commercial online services provided researchers with ways to remotely search through large databases, such as the Dialog Information Retrieval Service (DIALOG), the National Library of Medicine’s Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (MEDLARS), and the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database published by the U.S. Department of Education. Several other commercial databases now provide researchers with access to an enormous amount of information. For example, the DIALOG Corp., Dow Jones Interactive (a division of Dow Jones & Company), and Lexis-Nexis (a division of Reed Elsevier) all enable researchers to search for a single word or phrase in the full text of millions of articles published over many years.

The first abstracting and indexing databases—like the first online library catalogs—were very expensive and difficult to use. They generally required a trained researcher who worked as an intermediary for library patrons searching for information. Beginning in the mid-1980s, however, commercial vendors began publishing databases on CD-ROM. These databases were less expensive to produce and easier to use. The new format allowed users to quickly search databases with relatively little assistance from trained professionals.

3. The Internet

SidebarsPOINT/COUNTERPOINT Should the Government Subsidize Internet Access?The explosive growth of the Internet has raised concerns about the creation of a “digital divide” between those who can afford Internet access and those who cannot. Will the poor be left behind as jobs and other opportunities in the United States economy increasingly shift to Internet-related businesses? Will those with Internet access enjoy educational advantages over those without such access? Should the government step in to help? In this Point/Counterpoint Sidebar, attorney Mark Schwartz argues that free-market forces are lowering costs and expanding access more quickly and efficiently than any government action could. Tony Wilhelm, director of the Benton Foundation’s Communications Policy Program, counters that the government needs to intervene to guarantee access for all citizens. open sidebar

The Internet, a computer-based worldwide information network, has had an enormous impact on libraries. Librarians use the Internet and its multimedia component, the World Wide Web, to answer reference questions and to provide access to materials not previously available to their patrons. When the Internet was first introduced in the 1960s, access to computer networks was limited almost exclusively to government and scientific communities. In the 1980s and 1990s, however, the speed and availability of computer networks and data communications lines increased tremendously, and greater numbers of people gained access to the Internet. On university campuses, investment in personal computers and high-speed local area networks (LANs) provided students and faculty with the ability to access vast new sources of information via the Internet.

Americans who cannot afford access to the Internet have increasingly turned to public libraries to bridge the information gap between rich and poor. Many public libraries have attempted to meet that challenge by making Internet access a top priority. As a result, libraries have extended their traditional roles of facilitating self-education and individual enrichment by providing low-cost or free computer access to online resources such as government, consumer, medical, and legal information. In 1996 fewer than 28 percent of public libraries in the United States offered their users access to the Internet. By 1999 that figure had climbed to more than 72 percent. For more information, see the subsection Intellectual Freedom in the Trends and Challenges section of this article.

B.

Funding

Beginning in the late 1980s, an economic recession in the United States led to dramatic cuts in funding for all kinds of libraries. These cuts were especially damaging to public libraries and to libraries in public schools. With their budgets severely reduced, public library systems across the country began closing many of their branches. Many

communities—such as Worcester, Massachusetts, and Merced County, California—were forced to close their entire public library systems, including the central library and all of its branches. Public libraries that remained open often could not afford to update their collections with new books and magazine subscriptions. Even after the U.S. economy rebounded in the mid-1990s, public libraries continued to struggle in their efforts to meet increased public demand for information while facing rising costs for staff training, materials, and equipment.

Public schools also face budget shortfalls for their libraries. For example, demand for Internet access strains most school library budgets, often at the expense of traditional library materials such as books and magazine subscriptions. The National Center for Education Statistics estimates that U.S. school library expenditures on books dropped from a peak of $478 million in 1974 to $266 million in the school year of 1992-93. Much of this reduction in expenditures on books is the result of costs associated with providing computers, Internet access, CD-ROMs, and other new technologies. Related costs include several thousands of dollars each year on staff training, computer maintenance, software upgrades, online reference subscriptions, and computer supplies such as printer paper and toner cartridges.

For more information about funding in public libraries, see the subsection Public Libraries: Funding in the Types of Libraries section of this article. For information about the history of funding public libraries in the United States and Canada, see the subsection United States and Canada: Public Libraries in the History of Libraries section of this article.

C.

Theft of Library Materials

When libraries allow users to physically handle their materials and to borrow them for periods of time, these materials inevitably are vulnerable to theft. Some experts have estimated that public libraries in the United States lose as much as 2 percent of circulated materials when users fail to return borrowed items. Some users steal library materials to illegally resell them, while others simply take the materials home for their private use and fail to return them.

Libraries of all types primarily lose items not through premeditated theft, but when users openly check out materials and ignore pleas to return them. Many states have laws that allow libraries to turn users’ overdue accounts over to collection agencies. Libraries that catch users stealing their materials cancel the thieves’ borrowing privileges and often prosecute the thieves under the law.

Libraries usually monitor their collections by tagging materials with magnetic strips. These strips will trigger alarms if users try to carry the materials through electronic gates at library exits without properly checking out the items at the circulation desk. Some libraries also limit access to valuable or popular items that they consider more likely to be

stolen. For example, libraries may require users to leave an identification card with library staff members in order to read certain materials. Research libraries usually require users to read noncirculating materials only in designated reading rooms. Many libraries also install security cameras or have security officers who patrol reading rooms and stacks.

D.

Preservation of Library Materials

Libraries have always struggled against the physical destruction of their collections. Fires, floods, earthquakes, and wars have damaged the holdings of countless libraries, destroying forever much of the recorded history of human civilization. But library materials also fall victim to slow decay caused by acid content in paper, insect infestation, improper storage or handling, and excessive heat, mildew, humidity, and air pollution. The slow decomposition of library materials is a universal problem, occurring on a massive scale in developing and industrialized countries alike. In 1990 the Association of Research Libraries estimated that in the United States as much as 25 percent of the materials in research libraries were at risk of serious decomposition. The situation is even worse in developing countries, which typically have much smaller budgets to direct toward the maintenance and preservation of library materials. To ensure that library materials remain available to present and future generations of library users, libraries engage in a variety of preservation efforts. These efforts include the conservation of original materials and the transfer of information from original materials to more durable formats.

1.

Paper-Based Materials

One of the greatest threats to library materials stems from the acid content of paper in books, manuscripts, and other materials. Until the mid-19th century, nearly all the paper used for written or printed materials was made from cotton or linen rags. This type of paper could last several hundred years without decomposition. Since then, however, the vast majority of paper has been made from wood pulp treated with acidic chemicals. The residual acid slowly decomposes the paper, causing it to become extremely brittle. The rate of decomposition depends on the original quality of the paper and on the environmental conditions under which the materials have been stored. Acid-based paper is especially susceptible to light, heat, humidity, and pollution, all of which accelerate the decomposition of library materials. After a period of 50 to 100 years, books made with acid-based paper decompose to the point where they can crumble with any handling at all.

Libraries and archives can stop the harmful effects of acid in paper by using a deacidification process, which retards the embrittlement of paper, greatly prolonging the

life span of paper-based library materials. In early deacidification efforts, library conservationists dipped highly valuable pages, one sheet at a time, into a water-based alkaline solution that neutralized the acid in the paper. Because this was an extremely time-consuming and expensive process, only the most valuable pages of library materials could be preserved. However, in 1996 the Library of Congress began implementing a mass deacidification process that can neutralize the acid of several thousand books at a time by using a gaseous mixture. The Library of Congress estimates that deacidification can prolong the life span of paper-based library materials by 250 to 300 years.

Some research libraries and archives, especially at colleges and universities, preserve their highly valuable collections by storing them in specially designed facilities that strictly control the levels of light, heat, and humidity. The facilities also feature air-circulation systems that filter out damaging airborne pollutants. Access to the storage areas is often limited to trained staff members. The staff members retrieve the materials and deliver them to patrons for use in reading rooms, where proper handling procedures can be ensured.

Publishers can contribute to future preservation efforts by following the guidelines of the American Library Association and other library organizations, which advise publishers to use acid-free paper when printing new books considered to have enduring value. Despite wide acceptance of the value of these guidelines, fewer than 20 percent of hardcover books in the United States are printed on acid-free paper. Even fewer paperback books are printed on acid-free paper.

Aside from conserving original materials through processes such as deacidification, libraries transfer the information from some fragile materials to newer, more durable formats. For example, to preserve the information contained in newspapers, books, and other paper-based materials, libraries photographically reproduce the pages onto microfilm or microfiche, miniature transparencies that users can magnify for viewing or printing with special equipment. Microfilm and microfiche significantly increase the longevity of library content. They also enable libraries to store bulky, paper-based documents in much smaller spaces.

2.

Audio and Visual Materials

Not only paper-based materials risk deterioration on library shelves. Similar dangers confront audio and visual library materials, such as sound recordings, photographs, films, and videotapes. For example, nitrate-based film stock was the only available format for motion-picture production until 1951, but the nitrate in this type of film causes it to decay very quickly, even in controlled settings. Today, half of the 21,000 feature-length films made in the United States before 1951 no longer exist. Many have been lost or destroyed, but a vast number have simply decomposed beyond repair. Libraries and archives preserve nitrate-based films by transferring the images to a more resilient, acetate-based film stock. They preserve other audio and visual materials in similar ways. For example,

original sound recordings are preserved by transferring them from delicate and unstable wax cylinders or magnetic tapes to newer digital formats such as CD-ROMs.

In addition to preserving their materials from deterioration, libraries must guard against the obsolescence of machine-readable materials—materials that are read and interpreted by machines. Many valuable documents in machine-readable materials were first recorded in formats that have now become obsolete. Machines able to play back the recordings either no longer exist or are so rare that they are not practical for use in libraries or even for storage in archives. For example, U.S. president Richard Nixon used Sony Model 800 machines to record the famous White House tapes that eventually incriminated him in the Watergate scandal of the early 1970s. Today these tape machines are obsolete, and only a few still exist to play back the original White House tapes. To allow historians, scholars, and interested citizens to hear these recordings, the National Archives and Records Administration transferred them to newer formats, such as CD-ROMs.

3.

Computer Data

Computer software and hardware introduce additional problems to the preservation efforts of libraries and archives. Because common standards for computer software and hardware change so quickly, vast amounts of information stored in obsolete computers can no longer be accessed using modern equipment. As a result, libraries and archives risk forever losing access to valuable computer documents such as government statistical data and geological surveys. To ensure that original computer data remain accessible using contemporary equipment, libraries and archives must continually transfer these data to new formats. For example, every ten years the National Archives and Records Administration transfers all computer data and other electronic records to new formats. Because transferring electronic records can be an extremely costly and time-consuming process, most library conservators and archivists can transfer and preserve only those materials that they determine are of enduring value. As the quantity of computer-based records increases each year, the task of identifying which electronic materials warrant preservation becomes increasingly difficult.

E.

Intellectual Freedom

Libraries attempt to acquire, create, and provide access to all types of information, including information that is potentially controversial. In the United States, librarians have steadfastly defended this practice, which is known as intellectual freedom. Intellectual freedom encompasses a broad set of principles that support freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The most widely endorsed expression of intellectual freedom is the Library Bill of Rights, first drafted by the American Library Association

(ALA) in 1939. In recent years, the availability of controversial information over the Internet has presented new challenges to the principles of intellectual freedom.

1.

The Library Bill of Rights

Since the mid-20th century, the American Library Association has presented the most persistent and influential defense of the library’s role in protecting intellectual freedom. The ALA’s Library Bill of Rights is a basic policy statement on access to libraries and library materials. It asserts that all libraries are forums of information and ideas, and that libraries should not exclude certain materials because of the origin, background, or views of the author or others involved in the creation of the materials.

Americans first expressed their ideas about intellectual freedom by condemning the censorship of specific publications. In 1939 certain libraries around the country began censoring the novel The Grapes of Wrath, by American author John Steinbeck. Some librarians removed the book from their shelves because they considered it immoral, but most who censored the novel opposed the social and political views advanced by the author. The ALA responded to the censorship of The Grapes of Wrath and other books by adopting in 1939 the first draft of the Library Bill of Rights. Since then, the ALA has revised, amended, and interpreted the document several times, often in response to pressures against specific publications or library practices.

Over the years, the ALA has broadened the scope of the Library Bill of Rights beyond opposition to censorship. The ALA now encourages libraries to ensure that every member of the community has free access to library materials, regardless of an individual’s origin, age, background, or views about society or politics. In addition, the ALA asserts that libraries must strive to protect the confidentiality of patrons’ circulation records to ensure that every individual may freely use all library materials without fear of reprisal. The ALA also encourages libraries to protect their librarians’ own intellectual freedom by guaranteeing them rights to free expression without fear of professional reprisal. Finally, the ALA suggests that libraries should carefully determine whether they may advocate social or political causes without compromising their objectivity in the selection of materials.

2.

Intellectual Freedom and the Internet

The Internet has introduced unique challenges to libraries’ defense of intellectual freedom. Since the Internet emerged as a mainstream communications medium in the mid-1990s, libraries have provided Internet access in an effort to expand the scope of information available to users. However, many people feel that some content available on the Internet, particularly pornography, should not be available for viewing in libraries.

These people are particularly concerned that children will gain access to sexually explicit materials through Internet computer terminals in libraries.

Citing free-speech protections, U.S. federal courts have repeatedly blocked laws designed to protect children from accessing pornography on the Internet, and libraries are paying close attention to these rulings. In a unanimous decision in 1997, the United States Supreme Court struck down the Communications Decency Act, a 1996 law that made it a crime to make “indecent” or “patently offensive” material available to minors over computer networks. In the Court’s decision, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that “the interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship.” Lawmakers responded in 1998 by passing a narrower antipornography bill, the Child Online Protection Act (COPA). This law required commercial World Wide Web sites to ensure that children could not access material deemed “harmful to minors.” In 1999 a federal judge blocked that bill as well, ruling that it too would dangerously restrict constitutionally protected free speech.

Despite legislative and community efforts to limit children’s access to particular sites on the Internet, the ALA maintains that, in accordance with the Library Bill of Rights, libraries must support access to information on all subjects that serve the needs or interests of each user, regardless of the user’s age or the content of the material. Accordingly, the ALA opposes efforts to block library users’ access to specific types of content on the Internet, including efforts to block access to pornographic content. Furthermore, it argues that providing connections to the Internet and other electronic networks is not the same as selecting and purchasing material for a library’s collection. The ALA therefore maintains that users themselves must assume responsibility for determining what material is appropriate. Likewise, the ALA argues that parents and legal guardians who are concerned about their children’s use of electronic resources should provide guidance to their own children rather than requiring libraries to do so. However, the ALA does acknowledge that some information accessed electronically may not meet a library’s standards for the content of its own collection.

Many parent advocacy groups have expressed concern that the ALA’s defense of intellectual freedom has had the unintended effect of allowing children to view pornographic materials on the library’s computers. Some local public libraries have responded to these concerns by reserving specific Internet terminals for children. The libraries have equipped these computers with special software designed to filter out any pornographic material while allowing access to all other materials. Critics of filtering software claim that it blocks access to numerous sites that have nothing to do with pornography or sexually explicit material.

In 1997 the ALA issued a strong statement against the use of filtering software by libraries, affirming that the use of such software to block access to constitutionally protected speech violates the Library Bill of Rights. The ALA joined civil liberties groups in opposing the Children’s Internet Protection Act, a 2000 law that required all public schools and libraries receiving federal technology funds to install filtering software. In 2002 a panel of three federal judges unanimously struck down the law,

finding that the filtering software suppressed Web sites whose content was constitutionally protected. However, in 2003 the Supreme Court reversed that decision and declared the law constitutional. Just as libraries have the right to exclude pornography from their print collections, the Court said, so too may they exclude inappropriate material from their Internet terminals. Concerns about infringement of free speech are misplaced, the Court ruled, because the law allows libraries to permit access to blocked sites at the request of patrons for “bona fide research or other lawful purposes.” The burden placed on these library patrons, the Court said, was “comparatively small” when weighed against the legitimate interest of the government in shielding children from inappropriate sexual material.

Until the 1960s very few libraries offered services specifically designed for people with disabilities. Since then, however, many libraries have made significant modifications to their buildings and to their collections in an effort to provide the disabled community with access to library resources and services. For instance, libraries now serve the needs of the visually impaired with reading materials printed in the Braille system (a system of raised dots that can be read by touch), books on tape (audio recordings of books, commonly known as talking books), and large-print magazines and books for users with limited sight.

In the United States, the passage in 1990 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) led to significantly greater access to library resources for people with disabilities. The ADA provided disabled persons with protection against discrimination and guaranteed them access to public services and accommodations. Libraries complied with the law by, among other things, adding entrance ramps and elevators to provide wheelchair users greater access to library buildings. They also widened aisles in the book stacks to allow these same patrons easier access to library materials.

The Library of Congress’s National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped issues a catalog of recordings on compact disc and cassette. It also lists books available in large-print and Braille editions. A cooperative network of libraries throughout the country circulates these materials to make them available to as many users as possible. Libraries in the United States have also assisted with the development of Radio Information Service, a closed-circuit radio reading service for people who are visually impaired. Volunteers for this service read newspapers, books, novels, and short stories for users via closed-circuit radio.

Modern technology has expanded library services for people with impaired vision and hearing. For example, some libraries have introduced computers with the Versa Braille system, which translates what is appearing on a computer screen into Braille characters. Some libraries also feature a device called an Optacon, which converts print or computer output into a tactile form. To read, the user moves the Optacon camera across a line of print while interpreting the movements of the tactile forms with the index finger of the other hand. The Kurzweil Reading Machine is another computer device that libraries provide for visually impaired users. It scans a book, magazine, or other printed material and then reads it aloud using a synthesized voice. The Reading Edge Scanner can also

convert printed text into speech. Some libraries are equipped with Braille printers, which allow blind and visually impaired patrons to make Braille copies of computer-generated material. For people with limited vision, some libraries provide computers with large keyboards, oversized keys, and monitors that automatically enlarge the letters that appear on the screen.

Some libraries provide specialized telecommunications devices for the deaf and the hearing impaired, known variously as TTs (text telephones), TDDs (telecommunications devices for the deaf), and TTYs (teletypewriters). TTY is the most widely used of these abbreviations. TTYs consist of display monitors and keyboards that allow hearing impaired users to type messages and send them via telephone lines to people with TTY displays in other locations. A deaf or hearing impaired person can also place a call to someone who does not have a TTY by sending a message through an operator at a relay service. The operator calls the intended party on the telephone and relays messages word for word during the conversation. Many libraries also have other special aids and materials for the deaf and the hearing impaired, including closed-captioned videos, which print written dialog on the television screen as it is being spoken.

IX.HISTORY OF LIBRARIES

Libraries are nearly as old as the written word. The earliest known body of written materials was assembled in Mesopotamia (in present-day Iraq and Syria) more than 5,000 years ago. Ever since then, cultures have established libraries whenever social, political, and economic developments have enabled them to record and collect knowledge. The formation of libraries required the support of political or religious leaders who recognized that historical records were necessary to document, protect, and promote their society’s achievements. Libraries also could not have developed without readers—a core group of literate, educated people who had enough leisure time and motivation to use the new resource.

The Sumerians, an ancient Mesopotamian civilization, collected written records of legal contracts, tax assessments, and bills of sale. They recorded these documents in cuneiform, a system of writing in which scribes (writers or copiers) cut wedges of varying size, shape, and depth into damp clay tablets. For permanent storage, the Sumerians then baked the tablets and placed them in central locations. These collections of cuneiform tablets functioned as libraries for use by community leaders, who generally were the only literate members of the society. Archaeological evidence shows that scores of cuneiform library collections existed more than 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamian urban centers.

Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian of the 1st century BC, described a library of sacred texts at Thebes in the mortuary temple of Egyptian king Ramses II (ruler from 1290 to 1224 BC). However, modern archaeologists have found no evidence of such a library in explorations of the temple ruins.

The palace library of Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, built in the city of Nineveh on the Tigris River in present-day Iraq in the 600s BC, offers the earliest detailed evidence of an ancient library’s composition. Ashurbanipal’s palace scribes produced the religious, literary, historical, legal, and business documents that made up the library’s collection. They produced these documents as clay, wood, and sometimes wax tablets. Over time, the scribes developed a complex system to organize and classify the library’s collection, using tablets of different shapes for different types of records. For example, they used four-sided tablets to record loan transactions and round tablets to record agricultural production. They then placed different types of documents into containers of different shapes and designated separate rooms for the storage of records concerning government, history, geography, law, taxes, astronomy, and other subjects. The scribes further refined their bibliographic system with organizational aids such as colored markings, colophons (explanations of a document’s production), and a subject classification scheme that used keywords in the text’s first line. Estimates place the contents of Ashurbanipal’s library at the time of his death at over 25,000 tablets written in several languages.

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece was the first known civilization to establish libraries for use by the popular classes as well as for members of the ruling elite. In the 500s BC Pisistratus, who ruled Athens, and Polycrates, the ruler of Sámos, both began constructing what could be considered public libraries. Most people still could not read, however, so in practice these libraries served only a small percentage of the total population. In addition to the government-owned libraries, wealthy Greeks and members of the professional class established private libraries, as well as specialized libraries in medicine, philosophy, and other disciplines. The philosopher Aristotle had an extensive library that scholars consulted, although historians have found no actual listing of the titles in his collection. Greek scholars Euripides, Plato, Thucydides, and Herodotus also owned significant personal libraries.

To organize and inventory the library’s thousands of scrolls, Alexandrian poet and scholar Callimachus developed the Pinakes, a 120-volume catalog of the library’s holdings organized into at least ten main subject categories. Within these broad subject categories, Callimachus listed authors alphabetically by first name. A mob destroyed the library of Alexandria in the 2nd century AD, but by that time it had already demonstrated the economic and cultural value of amassing large research collections and forging a set of practices to organize and classify them.

For hundreds of years the only library to rival the library of Alexandria in the size and scope of its collection was the library in the kingdom of Pergamum, in western Asia Minor (now Turkey). Archaeological research indicates that the Pergamum library contained as many as 160,000 scrolls, and like the Alexandrian library it had a catalog to simplify access to the collections. The library was founded by Attalus I, who reigned from 241 to 197 BC. His son, Eumenes II, who reigned from 197 to about 160 BC, significantly expanded the library. Attalus III, who became ruler of Pergamum in 138 BC, bequeathed his kingdom and its library to the Romans in 133 BC.

According to legend, Alexandrian ruler Ptolemy II banned the export of papyrus from Egypt because he was jealous of the competing library in Pergamum. This ban forced scribes at the Pergamum library to use an alternative writing material, and they eventually began to transcribe many of their library’s texts onto parchment, a material made from animal skins. Ironically, the parchment turned out to be more durable than papyrus, particularly when several sheets were sewn together to form books. Because of its increased durability, by 400 AD parchment had replaced papyrus throughout Europe as the principle writing material.

D.

Ancient Rome

After conquering Macedonia in 146 BC, the Roman Empire acquired large collections of literature from the Greek libraries scattered throughout the region. Roman officials often carried this literature back to their private villas as spoils of war. As the Roman Empire grew in wealth and power, Romans considered it fashionable to surround themselves with books as a mark of social distinction. By 50 BC many wealthy Roman families had developed extensive private libraries.

Although Roman emperor Julius Caesar commissioned a public library for Rome before he died in 44 BC, Roman libraries open to members of the public did not exist until 28 BC, when the emperor Augustus dedicated two collections attached to the Temple of Apollo. Like Ashurbanipal’s library and the library of Alexandria, however, only a fraction of the local population was permitted access to Roman “public” libraries. Those who did have access were permitted to use the libraries primarily for official purposes. By the end of the 3rd century AD, Rome boasted nearly 30 quasi-public libraries, most attached to temples. These libraries divided their scroll collections by language into Greek and Latin sections, organizing them by subject and then alphabetically by author. Although housed in impressive buildings, the collections of Roman libraries were small in size and vulnerable to fire, insect damage, and other hazards.

The Ulpian library was one of the greatest quasi-public libraries in Rome. Founded by Emperor Trajan in AD 114, the Ulpian library, like many Roman libraries, was divided into Greek and Latin sections. Roman emperor Hadrian also built a considerable private library for his palatial residence outside of Rome at Tivoli.

By the 4th century AD, Rome was in decline as the world’s political and cultural center, and, as attacks by invaders intensified, Rome’s strong library tradition began to disintegrate. The center of the fading Roman Empire during this period of decline moved eastward to Constantinople (present-day İstanbul), and the Byzantine Empire became a haven for many great book collections. Emperor Constantine the Great copied the Roman pattern of dividing collections by language when he established his own palace library in 330 AD. In subsequent centuries Constantinople’s churches accumulated small libraries of liturgical manuscripts, while some of its monasteries built impressive collections numbering nearly 10,000 items.

Christians dispersed (and in many cases destroyed) Roman library collections when they defeated Roman paganism during the 4th century AD. However, early Christians believed in using books and libraries to disseminate and preserve their religious writings. Christians carried on the Roman concept of the library in collections established by several Christian leaders, such as Saint Damascus I in the 4th century and Saint Gregory I in the 6th century.

In the 6th century Catholic bishops in Europe began taking control of all church property, including manuscript collections in libraries. Thereafter, library collections became communal church possessions that could be copied and distributed relatively freely. For about the next 1,000 years during the Middle Ages (which lasted from the 5th century to the 15th century), medieval libraries in Europe acquired, copied, and disseminated texts by relying on correspondence between monasteries. Eventually, these libraries developed a system of procedures to organize and classify their collections. From this mix of activities emerged a highly decentralized system of libraries scattered throughout Europe.

By the beginning of the Middle Ages, the papyrus scroll was no longer the common text format. It had been replaced by the parchment codex, an early form of book consisting of bundles of folded parchment sheets inscribed on both sides. These sheets were stitched together and placed between protective covers. In codex form these manuscripts carried more text in less space, and they were easier to transport and read than were papyrus scrolls. In addition, their bindings were easier to decorate, and their compactness allowed church officials to move them in and out of closed storage spaces within walls, where manuscripts were kept with other treasures. The church clergy stored less-valued texts in armaria, or book cupboards, which were generally situated in more-accessible church locations.

To enhance quality and quantity of manuscript production, a church official often established a separate room, called a scriptorium, in which a carefully selected group of skilled clergy—known as monastic scribes—copied valuable religious texts. The scribes almost invariably wrote their manuscripts in Latin, which allowed speakers of different vernacular (local) languages to understand and communicate in a single, universal mode of expression. They used quill pens to copy the Bible, liturgical books, Latin grammars (books containing rules and principles of the Latin language), and small numbers of secular books onto parchment. Because medieval libraries did not follow the directives of any centralized authority, they frequently developed special techniques in the production of manuscripts. For example, certain scribes became experts at creating elaborate texts known as illuminated manuscripts, which were embellished with beautiful color illustrations and were often bound with fine leather set with jewels.

By the middle of the 6th century, leaders of the Christian monastic order known as the Benedictines were requiring their monks to read daily. Thus, as missionary monks traveled throughout rural Europe to establish relatively isolated monasteries, they made sure to include space for libraries. For example, the monasteries of Saint Gall in Switzerland, Holy Island in England, Fulda in Germany, and Bobbio in Italy all maintained outstanding libraries. Many of these rural monasteries provided secure

quarters for collections of sacred manuscripts that urban church libraries could no longer provide. In the mid-7th century, for example, Benedict Biscop, an English abbot, traveled five times to Rome, returning with pack animals loaded with valuable books. In the late 8th century the English scholar Alcuin established two libraries in Aachen in what is now Germany—one for the court of Charlemagne, king of the Franks, the other for the palace school. In addition, Alcuin built a library at Tours in France after he became bishop there.

By contemporary standards, monastery libraries were small. Before 1200 most monasteries housed fewer than 100 books and manuscripts. Very few monastery collections exceeded 300, in large part because, on average, the approximately 40 scribes at work in each monastery scriptorium could reproduce no more than two manuscripts per year. Nonetheless, the copying and distribution of books and manuscripts spread Latin culture to monasteries located throughout rural Europe. By perpetuating copying practices, over time monastic scribes also helped standardize orthography (the art or study of correct spelling), calligraphy (the art or study of handwriting), and punctuation.

Europe and its libraries changed substantially during the High Middle Ages, which lasted from the mid-11th century through the 13th century. Europeans had increased contact with distant civilizations through the efforts of explorers such as Marco Polo and through the wars fought by soldiers in the Crusades. Europe also experienced increased production and consumption within an emerging money-based economy. This began to generate surplus wealth that could be used for patronage and investment. In addition, throughout Europe religious reforms began to take hold and monarchies began to develop. All of these factors combined to shift the locus of learning from rural monasteries to schools within urban cathedrals. Some of these schools eventually developed large and influential libraries.

Cathedrals served as the headquarters for the church’s bishops and archbishops; they also served as schools where religious training—and some secular training—for priests took place. Unlike monastic libraries, the libraries in cathedrals and cathedral schools were designed for educational rather than inspirational reading. For this reason they contained more secular books than did monastic collections. Universities grew out of these cathedral schools and nurtured the rise of professions such as law and medicine. They also answered the needs of a growing and increasingly literate middle class that demanded greater access to books and information. Members of the new middle class also advocated a wider acceptance of local, vernacular literatures in addition to the universal, Latin-based literature.

Libraries responded to these public demands by increasing the size and scope of their collections. The library at the Sorbonne reflected many of these changes. The Sorbonne was established by French theologian Robert de Sorbon in about 1257 as a college of theology for students at the University of Paris. By 1289 its library had issued a catalog containing listings for 1,000 volumes, and many of these volumes contained separately titled works. All but four titles in the catalog were in Latin. The library at the Sorbonne also instituted a set of rules and regulations for library use. To ensure protection for its valuable books, it chained about 20 percent of its collection to shelves that were tilted

toward readers at an angle. There, several standing patrons could consult one manuscript at a time, or one patron could consult several manuscripts at a time. By the end of the 15th century the Sorbonne’s collection had grown to 2,500 volumes, increasing numbers of which were in vernacular languages. Elsewhere in Europe, library managers also implemented new measures to secure, house, and arrange collections that in many cases had grown to several thousand volumes.

F.

The Renaissance and Reformation

Gutenberg Bible 

Gutenberg BibleThe Gutenberg Bible is the first book known to have been created with movable metal type. It was printed by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany, between 1450 and 1455. The advent of movable type increased the efficiency of printing and the number of books that could be produced. More books and a more literate population, in turn, enhanced the spread of libraries throughout Europe.Encarta EncyclopediaCulver Pictures

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European libraries changed significantly after 1450, when German printer Johannes Gutenberg first began printing with movable type in the city of Mainz. Printing spread so rapidly throughout western Europe that by 1600 new presses had issued approximately 30,000 separate titles totaling about 20 million books. For a time, libraries—like their patrons—continued to favor hand-copied Latin manuscripts. However, between 1450 and 1600 Europe experienced a series of power shifts that greatly influenced the dissemination of printed books to libraries throughout the continent. In addition, many of these books were written in vernacular languages rather than in Latin.

During the Renaissance, from about the mid-14th century to the latter part of the 16th century, scholars produced a flood of literature expressing new beliefs about society, religion, government, art, culture, and other subjects. Books and libraries played a central role in the revival of interest in the intellectual heritage of ancient Greece and Rome. Scholars and poets in Italy such as Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio sparked these developments in the 14th century by actively seeking out long-forgotten manuscripts of classical authors and by building small private libraries. However, libraries established during the Renaissance usually contained works from all periods, classical, medieval, and contemporary.

Sistine Hall of Vatican Library 

Sistine Hall of Vatican LibraryThe Vatican Library was designed by Italian architect Domenico Fontana between 1587 and 1590. An impressive example of Renaissance architecture, the library has one of the finest collections of books and manuscripts in the world.Encarta EncyclopediaScala/Art Resource, NY

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Pope Nicholas V established the Vatican Library in the mid-14th century. He appointed as librarian the scholar Giovanni Andrea de’ Bussi, who helped make the library one of the world’s greatest scholarly collections. Eventually, monasteries declined in importance as the centers of culture, and noble families such as those of Lorenzo de’ Medici in Italy and the duke of Orleans in France built extensive private libraries. Italian artist Michelangelo designed and built the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence, Italy, to house the Medici collection. French bibliophile Jean Grolier also achieved renown as owner of one of the finest private libraries of the time. In the Hungarian city of Buda (now part of Budapest), King Matthias Corvinus established an exceptional private collection of about 3,000 volumes.

Meanwhile, donations from kings, nobles, bishops, and book collectors helped spur the growth of libraries at the universities in Oxford, Paris, and other European centers of learning. More than 75 universities were founded before 1500 and all had some form of library. See Colleges and Universities: History.

During the 16th century the Protestant Reformation also had a major impact on European library development, especially in England. Protestants in England created libraries as repositories of their faith against the influence of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1536, when King Henry VIII dissolved the Roman Catholic monasteries in the territory under his control, most monasteries lost their library collections. In addition, because this upheaval took place when new presses were already challenging the manuscript-based librarianship of monasteries, printed texts of Protestant and secular information quickly became more prevalent than the manuscripts from Catholic monasteries. Responses to these new developments generally took two forms. Some locales developed impressive libraries attached to academic institutions. For example, Sir Thomas Bodley, an English scholar and diplomat, established the Bodleian Library in 1598 at Oxford University, and the library formally opened to users in 1602. The original library at Oxford was established in the 1300s, but Bodley took it over to provide proper shelves and to add to the collection. Bodley also arranged for copies of all books printed in England to be deposited at the Bodleian Library. Other sites, especially those with significant commercial activity, used private endowments to establish libraries that served Protestant clergy, schools, and laypeople. For example, Norwich, England, established an endowed library in 1586, and Guildford, England, established one in that same year.

Fundamental shifts in economies and political structures throughout Europe during the 16th century forced libraries to assume new practices and responsibilities. Members of the growing middle class benefited from the emergence of capitalist economies during this period. They soon began to demand access to information that could help them solidify and advance their socioeconomic position. Libraries eventually became a central source of information for most Europeans.

Europe: The 17th Through the 19th Century

By the 17th century the number of libraries had begun to increase significantly, and the European library was beginning to take on its modern form. The monarchies of emerging

nation-states in Europe were eager to publish national bodies of literature that would be housed in large libraries. Several court libraries were founded during this period, and many of these later developed into national libraries. In Germany, for example, Elector Frederich Wilhelm established a library in Berlin that later became the Prussian State Library. In France, the Bibliothèque Nationale (now known as the Bibliothèque Nationale de France) also began as a royal library.

Zealous book collecting during this period led to the establishment of many great private collections. In England, the activities of book collectors laid the foundation for the establishment of the British Museum Library, which eventually became the British Library. Circulating libraries became popular in France, Germany, and England in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and they helped make books available to the general public. Housed in businesses such as bookstores and grocery stores, circulating libraries rented out books, usually the popular fiction of the day, for a small fee.

French physician and librarian Gabriel Naudé laid the foundations for the principles and practices of modern librarianship with the publication in 1627 of his book Advice on the Function of a Library. Naudé wrote that libraries should be well organized and should contain books from all branches of knowledge. He greatly influenced Gottfried von Leibniz, a 17th- and early-18th-century philosopher and mathematician who became a librarian in Hanover, Germany. Leibniz advocated adequately staffed and well-organized libraries that fulfill a social role much like that of a school or church.

In the 18th century the establishment of thousands of social libraries in Europe contributed to the rise of public libraries. Groups of investors purchased stock in a social library. These stock purchases provided the money to maintain the library for use by subscribers. Although they were generally somewhat profitable, social libraries were vulnerable to financial downturns in the economy. People eventually concluded that some form of government support was necessary to provide the public with free access to books.

By the early 19th century, libraries had spread in large numbers throughout Europe, but communities had made little effort to act on the principles of Naudé and Leibniz. Funds to maintain libraries were still generally inadequate, libraries had not taken steps to systematically acquire and catalog books, and the position of librarian was still not a full-time occupation in many countries. However, the Industrial Revolution was rapidly changing European society in ways that boosted the development of libraries and refined their services. With education and literacy widespread by the 19th century, the public wanted to be able to read recreationally. To meet this demand, public libraries became common features in most European countries between 1850 and 1900.

The Industrial Revolution, with its emphasis on science and technology, led to the rise of the special library. Businesses, industries, research foundations, and government agencies all saw the need to establish their own libraries that would enable them to undertake the research and development they needed to survive in an increasingly competitive world. By the late 19th century, libraries of all types were better financed, stocked, and staffed.

A new professionalism also emerged during this period as librarians formed organizations to promote support for libraries and to advance the profession of librarianship. In Britain, librarians formed the Library Association in 1877, one year after the founding of the American Library Association.

In the 16th century the Reformation had forced the various principalities of Germany into separate Catholic and Protestant territories. When converts to Protestantism assumed control of formerly Catholic territories, they often plundered and sometimes destroyed monastic libraries full of books that supported the Catholic faith. However, many texts found their way into the libraries of controlling princes. These court libraries became models for most German libraries for the next 200 years. In the 17th century, for example, Duke August of Brunswick built a library in Wolfenbyüttel to house his impressive collections. Frederick II, who was king of Prussia during the 18th century, amassed a library of 150,000 volumes, which he organized and stored in a separate building. By the end of the 18th century, the court library in Dresden consisted of 170,000 volumes that had been organized using a unique geographical-historical classification scheme.

At the beginning of the 19th century Germany sought to compensate its princes for losses suffered in the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815). Part of this compensation included the contents of entire monastic and cathedral libraries within the ecclesiastical territories that Napoleon had made secular in 1802. As a result, many court libraries grew tremendously. For example, the Munich Court Library became owner of the largest collection of incunabula (materials produced before 1501) in the world when it obtained more than 200,000 items that Bavarian monasteries and convents had been collecting and preserving for centuries. Libraries experienced more growth when many German states began imposing legal deposit requirements, which mandated that any author seeking to obtain a copyright had to deposit at least one copy of the book in an archive of copyrighted works—usually a government library. As the 19th century progressed, and as the separate German states moved toward a unified nation, court libraries gradually transformed into regional institutions supported by public funds.

By the time the German states unified in 1871, members of a growing middle class, which had been given only limited access to regional libraries, had developed their own independent reading societies and commercial lending libraries to satisfy their information needs. These libraries provided a foundation for an early-20th-century movement to establish public libraries.

Before the 17th century, libraries in France were private collections maintained by religious institutions, by members of French royalty, and by a growing number of French professionals. Eventually the general public benefited from the growth of these private libraries. For example, in 1661 Cardinal Jules Mazarin opened his eclectic collection of 25,000 volumes “to everybody without exception.” In doing so, he created a model for French libraries against which others were measured. Within a century France had 50 towns with public libraries.

Although some libraries suffered significant losses in the French Revolution (1789-1799), most eventually emerged as stronger institutions. After King Louis XVI was deposed in 1792, the new French Republic established several national libraries in Paris. Among these was the Bibliothèque Nationale (now known as the Bibliothèque Nationale de France), which was founded in 1795 with the collections of the royal library, the Bibliothèque du Roi (dating from 1368). By the mid-19th century, newly established public libraries began providing entertainment literature to the general population. About the same time, France also witnessed the creation of school libraries; however, public and school libraries did not develop into a widespread system until the mid-20th century.

Increased literacy in 18th-century England led to the rise of a new reading public willing and able to pay for multiple types of reading materials. Circulating libraries, including the popular Mudie’s Select Library in London, were commercial enterprises that rented books to customers. Also known as commercial lending libraries, circulating libraries offered collections of popular materials such as biographies, travel narratives, and novels. Most issued a catalog that customers used to make their selections. Circulating libraries radically transformed library services by welcoming women as reading patrons for the first time in library history. The patronage of women significantly contributed to the popularity of the circulating library. These libraries were popular well into the 19th century.

The subscription library addressed another type of reading interest. In these libraries several people pooled their capital to purchase a collection of books to which all shareholders had access. The collections of subscription libraries tended to include mostly secular works of nonfiction, and they focused especially on works identified with the 18th-century philosophical movement known as the Enlightenment.

The first public library in England opened in Manchester in 1852, and others rapidly spread throughout the country. In 1883 American steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie began providing funds for the establishment of public libraries in England. With this infusion of money, an average of 16 public libraries were built in England each year. By 1918 half of all library authorities in England had received Carnegie money for the construction of buildings.

Various private organizations and learned societies established special libraries in England, such as the library of the Society of Apothecaries (established in 1633) or the library of The Royal Society (1660). Other British libraries benefited from government support. For example, by the mid-19th century legal deposit laws entitled the library of the British Museum to receive copies of every work registered for copyright in England. These laws, coupled with new public funds, allowed the library to accelerate its growth into the British Library, which today has one of the greatest collections in the world.

In Austria, more than 100 monastery libraries established during the Middle Ages had been transformed into court libraries and eventually into state-supported public libraries by the 18th century. Libraries fared much worse in Poland. Many libraries there were destroyed by Catholic zealots during the Counter Reformation, an anti-Protestant

movement of the 16th and 17th centuries. In addition, Swedish armies destroyed libraries in the Polish cities of Kraków, Warsaw, and others during the 17th century. Finally, between 1795 and 1918 invading Russian and German armies stole freely from Polish collections as they advanced and retreated in wars fought over Polish territory. Poland was unable to establish a national library until 1928, long after most other European countries had founded national libraries.

The earliest Russian libraries were established by cathedrals and monasteries as early as the 11th century. By the 18th century a few wealthy Russians had also amassed large book collections. Russian tsar Peter the Great founded the country’s first research library, at the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1724. During the late 18th century Empress Catherine the Great expanded Russia’s library holdings by increasing the size of many existing collections and by establishing several new state-supported libraries. By the end of the 19th century several Russian libraries housed multimillion-volume collections, including the Imperial Public Library (now the National Library of Russia) in Saint Petersburg. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, numerous academic, research, and public libraries developed throughout the various republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Europe in the Early 20th Century

By the early 20th century librarianship in Europe had emerged as a distinct profession, and a wide range of library services were in place. National libraries regularly received copies of all books printed in their country as a condition of copyright protection for authors. Well-stocked and efficient university libraries served the academic needs of students and scholars. Public libraries provided recreational and instructional material for patrons in most urban communities. Newly founded special libraries also made up-to-date information available on science and business. However, European library development remained uneven, especially in eastern and southern Europe. Libraries there continued to receive inadequate support and the public had difficulty getting access to books and library services.

Many European countries escaped the damage of World War I (1914-1918), but World War II (1939-1945) had a profound effect on hundreds of libraries. Public libraries in large English cities such as Bristol, Liverpool, Birmingham, and Manchester suffered great losses, and libraries in smaller cities lost some or all of their collections. The British Museum Library lost many irreplaceable items when German planes shelled a building wing that housed some 110,000 books and 30,000 volumes of bound newspapers. At the same time, Allied aerial bombing raids destroyed library buildings and collections in Germany, especially those at Kassel, Dresden, and Stuttgart. Some countries, such as France, Belgium, and Denmark, fell to Germany relatively early in the war, and so their libraries escaped serious war damage. For further information about European libraries in the 20th century, see the Libraries of the World section of this article.

I.Asia

Library development in Asia followed patterns similar to those in Europe. In much of Asia the earliest documented libraries were connected with temples and centers of religious learning. Those libraries developed primarily in the period that roughly corresponds to the European Middle Ages. In most countries, religious libraries coexisted with royal and court libraries, but all libraries were restricted to just a few users.

1.

China

During the Shang dynasty (1570?-1045? BC) in what is now China, many archival collections consisted of official records inscribed on sacred bones, tortoiseshell, and pieces of bronze. In the 3rd century BC, Qin Shihuangdi founded the Qin dynasty and became the first emperor of a unified China. To solidify his power, he ordered his subjects to destroy all historical works that disagreed with Qin history and philosophy, including classics by Chinese philosopher Confucius.

Censorship of Chinese literature was lifted during the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), when Chinese officials created three imperial libraries and directed each to restore and reproduce texts that previous rulers had ordered destroyed. Fortunately, many of the texts had survived the Qin dynasty because their owners had hidden them from censoring government officials. Reproduction of books became much easier after AD 105, when paper was introduced in China. By that time China had already produced its first catalogs of library collections and had developed a standardized classification scheme. Over subsequent centuries, Chinese artisans also became expert in wood-block printing, which facilitated the rapid reproduction of the ancient Buddhist texts. These texts characteristically dominated the many private libraries that flourished during the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907).

After a period of decline, Chinese libraries steadily expanded during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). However, military threats from Western nations and the Opium Wars (1839-1842, 1856-1860) periodically diverted national attention from library development. China first began to establish public libraries in the early 20th century, but when Japanese troops occupied the country from 1937 to 1945, these libraries lost 2.7 million volumes, almost half of China’s total book stock.

2.

Japan

Libraries in ancient Japan were concentrated in Buddhist temples. In the 7th century AD, Prince Shikoku increased collections at more than 500 temple libraries by contributing Confucian classics and sacred Buddhist texts. By the beginning of the 8th century, Japan

had established a national library to collect and copy imperial documents. Like libraries elsewhere in the world at this time, however, Japan’s national library permitted only elite members of society to access its collections. Access to Japanese libraries remained limited for hundreds of years. In the 14th century, for example, a renowned library near Tokyo called the Kanazawa Bunko allowed only priests, scholars, and samurai (members of the warrior class) to consult its collections of more than 25,000 texts.

Private libraries were the most extensive collections in Japan during the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate of the Edo period, from 1603 to 1867. With the return of imperial rule in the late 19th century, however, Japan adopted several Western institutions as models for library development. Because the new government embraced the idea that libraries were essential to modernization, Japan initiated an extensive public-library construction effort. However, bombing raids and economic devastation caused by World War II (1939-1945) brought significant losses to Japanese libraries, particularly those located in urban areas.

3.

India

The earliest libraries in ancient India were maintained by royal palaces, but historians know very little about them. By the 13th century, India supported libraries in royal palaces, temples, and universities. Use of each of these types of libraries was limited to elite members of society.

During the nearly two centuries that Britain controlled India (1757-1947), the British-owned East India Company made numerous financial contributions to university libraries. This financial assistance stimulated library development in Indian universities that used British academic libraries as models. Other types of libraries in India also looked to Great Britain for models of library development. For example, an 1867 legal deposit law required all Indian authors to provide copies of their books to the Kolkata Public Library in order to receive copyright protection for their work. As a result, the library’s collection grew rapidly. The Calcutta Public Library amalgamated with the Imperial Library in 1903 and in 1948 it became the National Library of India. In addition, subscription and circulating libraries established during the 19th century by English colonists gradually evolved into an Indian public library system in the 20th century.

J. Early Islamic Libraries

Illustrated Text of the Qur’an 

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In the Middle East, followers of the prophet Muhammad compiled written records of his teachings and revelations, and transcribed them onto papyrus codices a few years after his death in AD 632. These manuscripts became known as the Qur’an (Koran) and the Hadith, and they quickly became the centerpieces of the Islamic religion (see Islam). Muslims (followers of Islam) were encouraged to read the Qur’an regularly and to memorize substantial portions of the text. As Islam spread throughout the Middle East in subsequent centuries, Muslims established libraries (also known as maktabat, madrassas, or schools) of sacred writings in their mosques.

In the late 7th century Mu’awiyah I, the governor of Syria and the first caliph (religious and secular leader) of the Islamic Umayyad dynasty, reorganized his extensive personal library by modeling it on the library of Alexandria in Egypt. In the early 8th century one of Mu’awiyah’s successors improved and enlarged the library. He also appointed a curator of books to maintain a collection of hundreds of manuscripts, including works on chemistry, medicine, astrology, and military science.

Libraries grew quickly throughout the Middle East in the 8th century after Muslims adopted methods of making paper that they learned from the Chinese. After the Abbasids took control of large segments of the eastern Umayyad empire in 750, Abbasid caliph Abū Ja’far al-Mansūr ordered classical Greek, Latin, Persian, and Indian works translated into Arabic. The Umayyads, who had retained control of western portions of their empire and the Iberian Peninsula, developed large libraries and book markets in 10th-century Baghdād (in what is now Iraq) and in Cordoba, Spain. European Christian monks frequented the collections of 400,000 books in the Cordoba library in search of new texts. Among the Arab collections, the Europeans discovered translations of ancient texts they had previously thought were lost, including works by Greek mathematician Euclid, Greek philosopher Aristotle, Egyptian mathematician and astronomer Ptolemy, and Roman physician Galen.

Some of the most famous Islamic madrassas included Baitul ‘Ilam (House of Learning), established in about 988 in Cairo, Egypt; Baitul Hikma in Baghdād, Iraq, in the 9th century; and Al-Zaituna Mosque-University, founded in Tunisia in the 15th century. Al-Azhar was founded in Cairo in 970 and today is the oldest existing university in the world (Al-Azhar, University of). In Saudi Arabia, most of the libraries were founded in Mecca (Makkah) and Medina (Medinat-en-Nabi). These libraries became noted for their collections of manuscripts and rare books dating from the early Islamic period.

K.

South America

In 1551 Spanish colonists established the University of San Marcos in Lima, Peru, and today its library is the oldest in the western hemisphere. For the next three centuries, the most extensive libraries on the continent were maintained by monasteries and convents of the Roman Catholic Church. In Bolivia, for example, the Catholic Church used its monastery libraries to help teach the principles of Christianity to the Native American

population and to help educate Spanish-born leaders and their children. Many wealthy individuals in South America also held significant private libraries.

Most South American countries established national libraries following their independence from Spain (or Portugal, in the case of Brazil) in the 19th century. These national libraries developed many of their collections from the works brought to South America by Spanish and Portuguese colonists or by Catholic missionaries. In Chile, for example, collections at the national library, established in 1813, benefited significantly from libraries confiscated from Jesuit monasteries. The Brazilian national library, founded in 1910, was established with book and document collections brought by Portuguese royalty who had fled Napoleon in the early 19th century.

L.

United States and Canada

Most immigrants to colonial North America came from England and France. Accordingly, libraries in the United States and Canada are rooted in the traditions of English and French libraries. Because many Europeans immigrated to the colonies of North America in search of religious freedom, most books brought by early settlers were religious works intended to nourish their spiritual needs. Settlers also brought medical texts that described treatments for physical ailments.

A lack of leisure time prevented the first colonists from establishing libraries where they could read secular texts. Additionally, unlike the cities of Europe, the earliest North American settlements had few wealthy aristocrats willing to patronize the arts. For these reasons, the colonists did not establish publicly accessible libraries for several generations.

The earliest library north of the Rio Grande River, the Jesuit Mission Library, was established in Québec (then called New France) in 1632. The collections included books of medicine, botany, and religion. It became the library of the Collège des Jésuites when the school was founded in 1635. The second library in North America was established in 1638, when Massachusetts clergyman John Harvard donated several hundred books toward the founding of a college in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The college adopted the name of its benefactor to become Harvard College (later Harvard University) and used Harvard’s bequest of books to form the core of its library collection.

Libraries in 17th-century North America were typically private collections that belonged to clergy or physicians, and they usually did not exceed 50 to 100 volumes. There were several notable exceptions, among them the more than 1,000 books that Connecticut governor John Winthrop had amassed by 1639 and the more than 4,000 volumes that Puritan theologian Cotton Mather of Massachusetts and political leader William Byrd of Virginia had each collected by the early 1700s.

Several people tried to provide greater access to the private collections in colonial North America. In 1653 Massachusetts merchant Captain Robert Keayne bequeathed part of his private library to the city of Boston with the stipulation that the city construct an appropriate facility for it. The city built the Boston Town House in 1657 to house Keayne’s collection, but the library was open only to paying subscribers. In 1698 the city of Charleston, South Carolina, claimed the honor of establishing the first library in the colonial United States supported mainly by public funds.

To convert Native Americans to Christianity and to combat what he perceived as heresy among Quakers, Anglican minister Thomas Bray established more than 70 libraries of carefully selected materials in the colonies between 1695 and 1704. Five of these were located in large cities to serve entire regions; the rest were established in churches where they were made available for parishioners. Although several colonial legislatures passed laws to maintain the Bray libraries, they did not allow for the replacement of volumes as the original collections wore out. As a result, the libraries fell into disuse not long after Bray’s death in 1730.

Different types of libraries developed in North America to serve the various needs of a diverse population. The following sections profile the development of the most prominent types of North American libraries.

1.

Society Libraries

As early as 1728, Pennsylvania printer, scientist, and author Benjamin Franklin and 11 others in the Junto, an intellectual discussion group, pooled their private libraries together into one commonly used collection. The enterprise failed, but the experience inspired Franklin to establish in 1731 the Library Company of Philadelphia, the country’s first society library (also known as a social library). People wishing to join the Library Company’s society of readers could buy shares of the company’s stock. The library then used these funds to buy books that all society members could access. This structure, similar to the structure of subscription libraries in Britain, became a prototype for hundreds of society libraries later established in the United States and Canada. Society libraries still in operation include the Redwood Library and Athenaeum in Newport, Rhode Island; the Charleston Society Library in Charleston, South Carolina; and the original Library Company in Philadelphia.

Society libraries thrived in North America from about 1750 to 1850. They filled the needs of an increasingly urbanized, sophisticated public by providing collections containing mostly biographies, philosophy, and travel narratives. Some society libraries eventually began inviting nonshareholders to pay an annual fee for the privilege of accessing the library’s collection. These came to be known as subscription libraries in North America, although their willingness to admit nonshareholders distinguished them from the subscription libraries in Britain. Other North American society libraries, which

became known as athenaeums, issued expensive stocks to fund not only the purchase of books, but also the purchase of periodicals and the presentation of cultural events.

Canada’s first subscription library was a bilingual collection in French and English. It was established in 1779 in Québec City by the British governor of Québec, Sir Frederick Haldimand. However, the library’s rates were too high to attract any but the wealthiest citizens. The present-day Montréal Public Library in Québec was first established as a subscription library in 1796. Ontario’s first subscription collection opened in 1800 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, and it too eventually became a public library.

Some society and subscription libraries attracted controversy. In Québec, volunteers established a society library known as the Library and Reading Room of the Canadian Institute in 1844. The library came under attack by the Catholic Church in the late 1860s for making available books condemned by the Church’s Index of Forbidden Books. The library was disbanded in 1880 under pressure from the Catholic Church.

Industries and trade groups sponsored the formation of mercantile libraries, which were essentially society libraries that offered collections designed to improve the skills of factory workers, clerks, and apprentices. Also called mechanics’ institutes, they played a particularly significant role in the history of public library service in Canada. The first Canadian mechanics’ institute appeared in St. John’s, Newfoundland, in 1827, followed the next year by one in Montréal. Mercantile libraries also served workers in the United States in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. They offered courses of instruction and books of practical value as well as works of intellectual and aesthetic interest.

2.

Public Libraries

During the 19th century increased industrialization and urbanization contributed to a growing middle class. Members of the middle class were determined to protect and extend their newfound economic status by gaining better access to information. Faced with a wave of unskilled immigrants to the cities from rural areas as well as from overseas, the middle class began championing universal literacy and mandatory attendance at public schools. These sentiments echoed the popular political belief that a democratic government could function effectively only when the citizenry was capable of making informed choices. Increasingly, Americans and Canadians came to believe that libraries could be an effective means of informing the public.

Despite widespread popular support for public libraries, communities still struggled to establish funding mechanisms for them. Indiana passed legislation authorizing the formation of county library systems in 1816, but it was the small community of Peterborough, New Hampshire, that established the first tax-supported local public library in the United States, in 1833. Two years later New York became the first state to give its school districts the power to tax citizens for public library service. By 1850 public libraries in New York school districts held some 1.5 million books. The successes

of this funding mechanism led several other states to pass similar laws. In 1851 the Canadian government passed the Common School Act of United Canada, which followed the New York model of using taxes in local school districts to fund public libraries. Although vestiges of this system continue in isolated pockets throughout North America, the school-district approach to funding libraries ultimately failed because most lawmakers did not appropriate adequate funds for staff, suitable buildings, and acquisition of library materials.

a.Boston Public Library

The Boston Public Library, established in 1848, became the preeminent model for modern public library service in North America. American scholar and educator George Ticknor served on the first board of the library. Ticknor had studied overseas and was familiar with the closed stacks of the great European libraries, which prohibited users from removing library materials from the building. Ticknor proposed that the new Boston institution allow patrons to borrow popular titles for use outside the facility at no charge, in addition to housing a noncirculating scholarly collection for reference. The popularity of Boston’s circulation policy eventually set the standard for circulation at public libraries in the United States and Canada.

b. New York Public Library

Main Reading Room of New York Public Library 

Main Reading Room of New York Public LibraryThe Main Reading Room is the central workspace for patrons of the New York Public Library’s Center for the Humanities. First opened to the public in 1911, the room received a $15 million renovation in 1998 that restored many architectural details to their original splendor.Encarta EncyclopediaStephanie Maze/Woodfin Camp and Associates, Inc.

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Before New York City established its extensive public library system, the city had a number of circulating libraries and mercantile libraries that served the public. New York was also home to two notable private research collections: the Astor Library and the Lenox Library. They were both open to the public, but not at hours convenient for working people.

The New York Public Library was established in 1895 with funds from a trust provided by American political leader Samuel J. Tilden. The trust was sufficient to combine the resources of the Astor and Lenox libraries to form the foundation of the new public library’s noncirculating reference department. The circulation department was established when the library consolidated with The New York Free Circulating Library in 1901. Later that same year, the library received a major grant from steel magnate Andrew Carnegie enabling it to contract with the City of New York to establish 39 so-called Carnegie branches in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. The New York Public Library eventually grew to include an administrative center, 4 research libraries, and 82 branch libraries, forming the largest public library system in North America. It is also the largest research library in the world to have a circulating system. For more information on the New York Public Library’s research centers, see the subsection Research Libraries in the Types of Libraries section of this article.

c.Midwestern Public Libraries

In the Midwestern United States, public libraries grew with the expansion of commerce and land values in the region. The Chicago Public Library in Illinois was just getting under way when a great fire in 1871 destroyed its collection. The library was quickly rebuilt, however, with assistance from people across the United States and also in England. In 1907 the children’s room of Chicago Public Library’s Central Library was renamed The Thomas Hughes Room in recognition of the efforts of English author Thomas Hughes in collecting books for the restored library.

The Cleveland Public Library in Ohio was established in 1869. Under the leadership of William Howard Brett (director from 1884 to 1918) and his successor Linda Ann Eastman (director from 1918 to 1938), the Cleveland Public Library developed several innovations to bring service to the entire community. For example, it achieved notable success in extending specialized services to immigrants, hospital patients, children, and business people.

The flowering of public libraries across the United States during the late 19th century was greatly stimulated by the generosity of American steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. Between 1881 and his death in 1919, Carnegie donated millions of dollars to English-speaking countries worldwide for the construction of library buildings. Carnegie’s philanthropy also inspired other wealthy benefactors to contribute to the establishment of public library services.

Carnegie attached certain conditions to his donations, and these conditions helped popularize the idea that public library service is rightfully a government function. Before

giving to a community, Carnegie stipulated that local authorities agree to maintain the library building in perpetuity. He also required them to tax community residents annually to fund the library’s operation. Many civic organizations, most notably women’s groups, lobbied local authorities in communities throughout the United States to accept Carnegie’s challenge, and soon cities and towns established funding mechanisms to maintain public libraries. As a result, the number of public libraries surged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, growing from 188 libraries in 1876 to 3,873 libraries by 1923.

e.Canadian Public Libraries

Canadian public libraries also multiplied in the late 19th century, especially after provinces passed legislation to support them with public funds. In 1882 Ontario became the first province to authorize tax-supported libraries, and two years later the city of Toronto established the Toronto Public Library. Over the years, other provinces also passed legislation to support public libraries. In 1959 Québec become the last province to approve tax support for free public libraries.

f.New Funding Mechanisms

Gradually, public libraries sought new ways to obtain funding for their operations. Many of these efforts were led by the American Library Association, established in 1876 to advocate for libraries and to advance the profession of librarianship. In the early 20th century library advocates and public officials strove to develop more effective funding mechanisms for library services in sparsely populated areas. These efforts led to the development of county library systems and later to multicounty and regional library systems throughout the United States. Officials in Canada also concluded that regional library systems could best serve the widely scattered populations throughout the upper two-thirds of that country.

Public library use rose dramatically during the first half of the 20th century as unprecedented numbers of immigrants and displaced workers sought to acquire new skills with the help of library collections and services. To meet this growing demand, library officials at the state level teamed with members of the American Library Association to secure federal funding for U.S. libraries. The United States government responded to these efforts by passing the 1956 Library Services Act (LSA), which provided federal support for rural libraries throughout the country. The Library Services Act provided assistance for public library service to communities with a population of less than 10,000 and covered all services other than building construction. The federal government later extended this support to urban libraries with the 1964 successor to the LSA, the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA). LSCA-funded provisions have included a range of services for U.S. libraries, including construction projects, literacy training, and staff development.

In the mid- and late 1960s the administration of U.S. president Lyndon Johnson further extended federal support to libraries through a group of legislative programs collectively known as the Great Society. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the Medical Library Assistance Act of 1965, and the Higher Education Acts of 1965 and 1966 all directed federal aid to libraries.

However, economic downturns in the 1970s increased public reluctance to pay for government programs through taxes. As a result, library development stalled at a time when most libraries’ budgets were being strained by the addition of new technologies such as audiovisual and digital materials. In some communities, public libraries closed due to a lack of adequate funds. Libraries suffered perhaps the greatest budgetary constraints in California, where voters approved a property-tax cap in 1978. Challenges to library funding continued throughout the 1980s and 1990s, even as demand for public library service continued to rise. According to a 1995 Gallup poll, 67 percent of Americans reported that they had used a public library within the previous 12 months, up from just 51 percent in 1978.

Despite ongoing struggles to secure adequate funding, public libraries are confronted by demands for increased services, particularly high-speed Internet access. Providing the latest technological advances is beyond the means of many public library systems, however. As a result, public libraries throughout North America increasingly turn to private sources for additional funding. For more information, see the Trends and Challenges section of this article.

3.

Government Libraries

Thomas Jefferson 

Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, was the principal founder of the Library of Congress. His personal library provided the core of the library’s early collection. Jefferson’s vast range of interests also determined the universal and diverse scope of the library’s collections and activities.Encarta EncyclopediaHulton Deutsch

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The United States Congress established the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., in 1800. Despite strong initial support from the federal government, particularly from U.S. president Thomas Jefferson, the library’s collections were relatively modest during its first several decades of existence. However, the collections experienced significantly accelerated growth after 1870, when Librarian of Congress Ainsworth Rand Spofford persuaded Congress to revise and centralize the nation’s legal deposit law. The new law stipulated that two copies of every work registered for copyright in the United States must be deposited in the library. Collections expanded so rapidly thereafter that Congress had to build a separate structure across the street from the Capitol building. The Library of Congress moved into its new quarters in 1897.

The scope of the library’s services greatly expanded under the leadership of Herbert Putnam, librarian of Congress from 1899 to 1939. Putnam initiated programs to produce, sell, and distribute catalog cards in the newly developed Library of Congress Classification system; to develop national union catalogs that compile the catalogs of selected libraries throughout the country; and to standardize interlibrary loan procedures among the nation’s libraries. Since the 1930s the Library of Congress has continued to expand its national activities while also developing an increased international presence. During the 1950s the library greatly increased its collections of research materials from foreign countries, and by 1980 the library expanded into a third building. Today, the library’s National Digital Library program provides remote access through the Internet to more than 400,000 digital files in the library’s collections.

The federal government also established the National Library of Medicine in 1836 and the National Library of Agriculture in 1862. The government established the National Library of Education in 1994 as part of a school reform law entitled Goals 2000: Educate America Act.

4.

School Libraries

The first school libraries in the United States and Canada opened in the 18th century in elite private schools. Most schools lacked their own libraries until the 19th century, when local governments first established publicly funded school systems. In 1835 the New York State legislature passed the nation’s first school-district library legislation. This legislation provided tax-supported library service for the entire population within the jurisdiction of each school district. This funding mechanism soon spread throughout the United States and Canada, and school districts established their own libraries for their communities. Most of these libraries were located in rooms within the school that were not used for the instruction of students. Although their primary mission was to serve the general public, these libraries also offered limited services to students.

By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, educational leaders increasingly advocated the creation of school libraries that would support the general curriculum of the schools the libraries served and would be available only to students and teachers. Seeking greater

autonomy for school library services, the National Education Association of the United States (NEA) pressed for the separate funding, staffing, and administration of school libraries as early as 1912. Along with the National Council of Teachers of English and the American Library Association, the NEA established quality standards for high school libraries that stipulated appropriate collections, services, and facilities. School boards began to endorse these standards in 1920, and most high schools eventually established quality library collections, hired librarians, and created recommended reading lists for students. Elementary schools during this period generally lacked formal libraries for their students.

The growth of school libraries temporarily slowed during the economic collapse of the 1930s and the outbreak of World War II in 1939. After the end of the war in 1945, however, high school libraries in many communities of the United States and Canada gained more public funds, and elementary schools finally began to establish libraries of their own. Nevertheless, in the 1950s many school libraries were in poor condition, and as late as 1962 one-half of all public schools were without libraries.

Libraries became much more prevalent in schools beginning in the mid-1960s. The introduction to the classroom of audio and visual media such as filmstrips was especially influential in stimulating this spread of school libraries. By the late 1960s school libraries continued to provide traditional printed materials, but they had also evolved into media centers that collected, maintained, and circulated films, filmstrips, and audio recordings. In the United States, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 earmarked federal funds for schools and school libraries. By providing substantial aid for new library quarters, equipment, and the hiring of trained librarians, the act further spurred the development of libraries in schools throughout the country. Elementary and secondary schools also benefited from the Higher Education Acts of 1965 and 1966, which provided funds for the education of school librarians.

By 1978, 85 percent of the 83,044 public schools in the United States had a library or media center. Nearly 50 percent of these school libraries reported holdings of between 5,000 and 9,000 volumes. Still, in 1978 almost 3 million students attended schools without a library or media center.

Since the 1970s, school libraries have struggled to provide state-of-the-art information resources. Despite widespread recognition of the benefits of school libraries, public funds often prove inadequate for schools to hire professional staff, develop new collections, or modernize facilities. As a result, many elementary and secondary school libraries have closed, and the materials of many other school libraries are seriously out of date. Those that have remained open have often survived by hiring library workers who lack professional credentials. These workers usually report to trained media specialists who supervise entire districts. In some areas, such as Scottsdale, Arizona, and New Orleans, Louisiana, public officials reestablished libraries that served both the schools and the general public in the hope of saving money by eliminating any duplication of services.

In the 1990s educational leaders and library advocates attempted to counter these trends by mounting new development efforts to provide school libraries with current materials and connections to the Internet. Some of these efforts have been successful. For example, in 1997 students at 78 percent of U.S. public schools had access to the Internet, up from 35 percent in 1994. In 1999 the National Center for Educational Statistics estimated that 95 percent of U.S. public schools would have Internet access by 2000.

5.

College and University Libraries

Library collections in institutions of higher education north of Mexico date from 1635, when the library for the Collège des Jésuites was established in Québec. The Jesuit college no longer exists, but some books from the library’s collection now belong to the library of Université Laval in Sainte-Foy, Québec. In 1638 English clergyman John Harvard donated some 300 hundred books to a fledgling college in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Administrators of the college later decided to name the school Harvard College (now Harvard University) in honor of its benefactor.

a.Early Collections

The small collections of library materials in the colleges of colonial North America provided limited services to their users. In the 17th and 18th centuries North American colleges relied heavily on monetary donations and gifts of books from private collectors. These collectors often favored theological works, so academic libraries found themselves with collections that focused on limited subjects. Most libraries also kept irregular hours because they were usually managed by a single faculty member who supervised the collection in addition to teaching in the classroom. Academic libraries provided very limited access to their collections. They extended borrowing privileges only to those whom the librarian deemed worthy—usually faculty members and occasionally advanced students, but almost never first- or second-year students. To gain access to written materials, students on many campuses formed their own literary-society libraries, some of which were eventually incorporated by the academic libraries of the 19th century.

In the second half of the 19th century administrators at many colleges and universities enhanced academic library budgets to better meet the growing needs of faculty and students. Until this period, colleges and universities usually had required all of their students to follow a fixed course of study. Because the typical college curriculum focused on reading an established set of classical texts, the limited collections of academic libraries were often adequate to meet these needs. This pattern changed when Harvard president Charles William Eliot began his tenure at the university in 1869 and allowed students to take elective courses. Other American colleges soon followed Harvard’s elective-course model, making subject departments more responsive to individual student interests. To support this broader curriculum, the college library collections needed to include more diverse materials. Also, universities in the United States were beginning to

employ professors, like Eliot, who had studied in research-oriented German universities. These professors came to American institutions and demanded libraries with better research facilities for themselves and their students.

b.Expansion

By the late 19th century library hours began to increase, and collections grew both in depth of coverage and in diversity of topics. Academic libraries stored their general collections in centralized locations for access by undergraduates majoring in different specialties. The libraries generally clustered more specific collections into departmental libraries for graduate study. In the 20th century academic librarians devised a closed reserve system, which removed from circulation certain heavily used materials so that users could be certain of gaining access to the materials on the shelves.

College enrollments swelled in the United States after World War II (1939-1945). Unprecedented numbers of veterans gained access to higher education through the provisions of the GI Bill, which paid their college tuition (see Department of Veterans Affairs: The GI Bill). As academic libraries struggled to serve an expanded clientele, their budgets became increasingly strained. The federal government provided assistance with the 1965 Higher Education Act, which provided grants for acquisitions and new facilities.

A postwar economic boom in Canada affected the size and diversity of academic libraries there as well. College and university students demonstrated a renewed interest in professional training, and this interest fostered the development of postgraduate education programs and the libraries to sustain this new scholarship. The vast majority of Canadian colleges and universities were publicly funded, and provincial and federal governments provided libraries with extensive financial support during the economically prosperous 1960s. These funds stimulated a building boom and a surge in the size of academic library collections and staffs throughout the country.

Like the United States, however, Canada experienced a series of economic recessions beginning in the 1970s and lasting into the 1980s. This period of recession resulted in shrinking financial support for college and university libraries. The libraries coped with these budgetary constraints by strengthening cooperation between institutions, sharing cataloging responsibilities, establishing reciprocal borrowing agreements, and creating interlibrary loan networks. In the meantime, library operation costs continued to escalate in both the United States and Canada. The price of subscriptions to scholarly journals had become especially high, causing difficulties for academic libraries as they struggled to stay within their limited budgets. Academic libraries tried to withstand these difficulties in the 1980s and 1990s by pooling their buying strengths into local networks. Member libraries collectively purchased scholarly articles through a supplier and then distributed these articles among themselves. By the mid-1990s nearly all campus libraries in the United States and Canada provided Internet access, which provided still greater access to scholarly materials through interlibrary networks.

6.

Private and Research Libraries

As do libraries elsewhere in the world, libraries in the United States and Canada owe a great debt to private book collectors who donated their personal libraries to institutions for wider use. A few of these collections formed the core of respected independent research libraries. However, most ended up in public or academic libraries. For example, the private library of American financier John Pierpont Morgan was made into the Pierpont Morgan Library, a public research library in New York. More recently, in 1983 the Lilly Library of Indiana University acquired the 10,000-volume children’s book collection of Elisabeth Ball, daughter of a successful glass manufacturer in Muncie, Indiana.

Large numbers of book collectors and benefactors in the United States and Canada established private research libraries in reaction to the public library movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many started the private libraries because they were concerned that public collections would lack the resources needed by serious scholars who did not have access to a university library. The private research libraries generally contained extensive scholarly materials on specific subjects. Many of the most notable research libraries in the United States are privately funded institutions. These include the Newberry Library, founded in Chicago, Illinois, and named after business leader and book collector Walter L. Newberry in 1887; the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, started in 1919 by American railway magnate Henry Huntington in San Marino, California; and the Folger Shakespeare Library, which was formed in 1932 in Washington, D.C., from the collection of American industrialist Henry Clay Folger. Private libraries established later in the century include the George C. Marshall Research Library, founded in Lexington, Virginia, in 1964, and the Historic New Orleans Collection, started in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1966 from local documents and artifacts collected by General L. Kemper Williams and Leila Moore Williams.

X.

LIBRARIES OF THE WORLD

Virtually every region of the world maintains libraries. Countries with well-developed economies, strong educational institutions, and advanced technological infrastructures tend to have the most libraries. The libraries in these countries generally have comprehensive, up-to-date collections and collectively serve relatively large numbers of people. Developing countries also maintain libraries, although the libraries in these countries frequently feature small, out-of-date collections and lack professionally trained staff members. Despite these disadvantages, the governments of many developing countries place the construction of new libraries and the maintenance of existing libraries among their top national priorities.

This section contains information on modern libraries in countries other than the United States and Canada. For information on modern U.S. and Canadian libraries, see the following subsections in the Types of Libraries section of this article: Public Libraries; School Libraries; College and University Libraries; Research Libraries; Special Libraries; and Government Libraries.

A.

Western Europe

The countries of western Europe have a wide range of public, private, academic, and other libraries, each with their own unique features and history. Britain and the Scandinavian countries have extensive networks of public libraries, because free access to libraries is required by law in these countries. Most western European countries, with the exception of Switzerland and The Netherlands, require authors to deposit publications in the national libraries in order to receive copyright protection. School libraries have been integrated into elementary and secondary education in Scandinavia since the 19th century. Elsewhere in western Europe, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom have the most fully developed school libraries. School libraries remain almost nonexistent in southern Europe.

1.

Germany

After World War II ended in 1945, Germany was divided into separate eastern and western zones. The nations of East Germany and West Germany were formed in 1949, and each operated libraries independently of one another. Nevertheless, both countries developed strong national library systems. In 1990 the two zones of Germany reunited and the library model of West Germany became the standard throughout the country.

Today, the German national library consists of the combined collections and services of three separate libraries: the Deutsche Bibliothek in Leipzig and in Frankfurt am Main, the German State Library in Berlin, and the Bavarian State Library in Munich. Scientific literature is divided among libraries in Hanover (for technology and applied science), Cologne (medicine), Kiel (economics), and Bonn (agriculture). Approximately 80 academic libraries are affiliated with universities in Berlin, Frankfurt, Göttingen, and elsewhere. The 16 German states are served by regional library systems. Public libraries in the urban centers maintain extensive collections with large professional staffs; those in remote rural communities provide minimal service and are rarely directed by professional staff members.

2. France

Bibliothèque Nationale de France

France rapidly developed its public library system in the early 20th century. By 1940 France had a network of 300 public libraries with collections that served popular and scholarly interests. Although spared from destruction by the occupying German army during World War II, public libraries in the postwar era developed slowly. By the late 20th century, however, France had increased its investment in public libraries. It now maintains an extensive system of public libraries and is home to some of the finest academic and special libraries in the world.

French libraries, which date from the 7th century, have always been marked by strong centralized administrative control. The national library—the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, in Paris—is the largest and most important library collection in France. It is also the oldest national library in Europe. The core of the library’s original collection came from the Bibliothèque du Roi (Royal Library), which was established in 1368. Today, the library’s collections are located in two locations: at the original site on the Rue de Richelieu, in the center of Paris, and at a new site in the Tolbiac region of southeast Paris. The Richelieu site houses manuscripts, engravings, photographs, maps, coins and medals, and other materials. The Tolbiac site, which opened to the public in 1997, contains the library’s printed materials, periodicals, and audiovisual materials. In addition to the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, the libraries of the Universities of Paris, which date from the late 14th century, contain some of the most extensive scholarly collections in the world.

3. United Kingdom

British Library at Saint Pancras 

The British library system has had a major impact on libraries worldwide, particularly those of its former colonies. The emergence of a strong British economy in the 17th century fostered a reading public with an interest in books, and by the next century libraries had become an integral part of the nation’s cultural life. Library buildings that were destroyed or badly damaged by bombing raids during World War II have been replaced by much improved facilities.Today, citizens have access to any library book in the British Isles, thanks to a national unified library system established with the founding of the national British Library in London in 1973. The British Library was formed from four major national institutions: the British Museum Library (founded in 1757), the National Central Library (1916), the British National Bibliography (1950), and the National Lending Library for Science and Technology (1961). The British Library’s collection of rare books and manuscripts—originally part of the British Museum’s collection—is one of the most valuable in the world. In 1997 the British Library moved to a new facility in the Saint Pancras area of London. Britain’s two other national library systems are the National Library of Scotland and the National Library of Wales. The academic libraries at the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, the University of London, and Edinburgh University are among the finest in world.

4.

Greece

As early as the 500s BC, leaders in ancient Greece founded the first libraries in the Western world that were open to the general public. However, modern Greece has been slow to develop an effective modern library system. Greece provides relatively little funding for libraries, so collections in the country’s public libraries tend to be small and out-of-date. Greek libraries also generally lack the resources necessary to provide users with access to the Internet and other new technologies. Greece’s National Library, in Athens, was constructed in the late 1800s. The building was based on a neoclassical design by Danish architect Theophile Hansen. The National Library maintains collections of more than 2.5 million volumes.

5.

Italy

Libraries in Italy are among the oldest in the Western world, and historically they have played an important role in library development, particularly during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The Vatican Library, conceived by Pope Nicholas V in 1451 “for the common convenience of the learned,” is located in Vatican City. It contains nearly 2 million books and periodicals, including more than 8,000 incunabula (materials produced before 1501) and 75,000 Latin, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and other manuscripts dating from as early as the 2nd century AD. It also contains one of the three oldest-known Bible manuscripts in the world. The Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence also has a magnificent collection of manuscripts. The library building was designed and built during the Renaissance by Italian artist Michelangelo to house the collection begun by the powerful Medici family.

Libraries in Italy declined for centuries, but in 1980 the Italian government began an effort to improve library services by creating a national bibliographic system designed to conserve and expand on national library collections. Italy maintains two major national libraries—one in Florence (founded 1747) and the other in Rome (1875)—as well as smaller national libraries in Milan, Naples, Palermo, Turin, and Venice. The Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale—the national library in Florence—is notable for its collection of historical materials.

6. Spain

Castle of Simancas, Spain 

Until the early 20th century, Spanish libraries catered to the reading needs of scholars rather than those of the public. That changed when public libraries opened in Madrid in the 1910s and in several towns of Catalonia, in the northeast of the country, soon afterward. The Library of Catalonia, located in Barcelona, was the first Spanish library to open its stacks to the public and to offer borrowing privileges. In the late 20th century some of the largest and most important libraries were located in Madrid, including the Escorial Library (founded in 1567), the National Library (founded in 1712 as the Royal Library), and the Library of the Royal Palace (1760). The impressive collections of rare books, manuscripts, and engravings in these libraries attest to the country’s rich library tradition. The Complutense University of Madrid Library, founded in 1341, maintains one of Spain’s largest academic collections.

7.

Belgium

Belgium began to develop public libraries as early as 1608. The country has also maintained specialized libraries for several hundred years. However, the complex and independent system of libraries that evolved in Belgium in the 18th and 19th centuries hindered modernization and interlibrary cooperation. By the end of the 20th century, Belgium had overcome these difficulties and had developed an excellent national library, the Bibliothèque Royal Albert I, in Brussels. Belgium also has several important university libraries, including the libraries at the Catholic University of Leuven and at the Free University of Brussels.

8.Switzerland

Switzerland has no national library, although an effort was made to establish one in the late 18th century. Under the decentralized structure of the Swiss federal government, public libraries are supported by the country’s 26 autonomous cantons (municipalities). Most of the country’s academic libraries were established in the 19th century, with the exception of the library at the University of Basel, which was established in the 15th century.

9.

Norway

At the beginning of the 20th century the Norwegian library system was considered one of the most modern in the world. Since then it has not adopted new information technologies as rapidly as have libraries in other countries of western Europe. The library of the University of Oslo began carrying out the functions of a national library in 1815. In 1989 a new national library—the Nasjonalbibliotektjenester—was established in Rana. The University of Oslo library now functions as a separate branch of the national library.

10.

Sweden

Sweden has a strong public library tradition that has been heavily influenced by the belief that libraries should serve democracy. The country maintains high standards of library service largely funded through local taxes. Some of the largest and most important Swedish libraries are the Royal Library and the extensive library maintained by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, both in Stockholm. In the second half of the 20th century several new Swedish universities also opened extensive libraries. In addition, libraries in established universities expanded and significantly improved. Some of the largest university libraries in Sweden are those of the University of Stockholm, the University of Uppsala, and the University of Lund.

11.

Denmark

Danish library history during the 20th century has been marked by dramatic growth in public library service and a move toward decentralization. Legislation in 1964 increased state subsidies to libraries and required all communities to provide public library service. In 1983 a new law placed libraries largely under municipal control. The result has been expanded services and greater access to information in most communities. In 1990 the Danish government established a Danish National Library Authority to coordinate the

work of the Danish Repository Library for Public Libraries, the Danish Central Library for Immigrant Literature, the Danish Library Binding Center, and the Danish Library Bureau.

12.

Finland

Finland’s first libraries were established in the 15th century, but it was not until 1921 (four years after Finland gained independence from Russia) that public libraries began to receive state support. The country’s first Library Act, passed in 1928, provided strong support for rural library development. The second Library Act, in 1962, increased federal financial support to libraries and spurred their development nationwide.

B.

Eastern Europe and Russia

During the 20th century, wars and weak economies throughout eastern Europe caused library development to suffer greatly in countries such as Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland. The wars of Yugoslav succession (1991-1995) had a devastating effect on libraries in Bosnia, Croatia, and Yugoslavia. For example, in 1992 Bosnian Serbs shelled the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, destroying 1.2 million books, 600,000 serial publications, and all the catalogs that identified and organized them.

Russian libraries have their origins in the 11th century in the cathedrals and monasteries of medieval Kievan Rus (Kyiv). In the 20th century these institutions were strongly influenced by governmental and political forces. Library staff and collections experienced the devastating effects of World War I, World War II, and the purges in the 1930s instigated by Joseph Stalin, the totalitarian ruler of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). On the other hand, the library system in Russia and other Soviet states greatly expanded under Communist rule. The Soviet government founded the impressive Lenin State Library (now the Russian State Library) in Moscow in 1925. The library’s core collection came from Moscow’s Rumyantsev Museum and the Rumyantsev Public Library, both of which were founded in the early 19th century from the library of Russian count Nikolay Petrovich Rumyantsev. The Soviet Union eventually established many new library collections throughout the country as well. By 1940 the USSR had built up what many considered the best library system in the world at that time. Although World War II devastated libraries in Moscow, Leningrad, Minsk, and other major cities, postwar reconstruction efforts gave a high priority to library development. By 1980 there were a reported 350,000 libraries throughout the USSR.

During the era of the Soviet Union, the Communist Party controlled the collections and services offered by Soviet libraries. As a result, libraries in the USSR did not offer access

to any materials that the government might have considered politically disruptive. In 1989 and 1990, however, the journal Sovetskaia Bibliografiia published several landmark articles disapproving of Communist Party control of libraries and calling for increased access to literatures previously considered politically sensitive. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, libraries offered a much wider range of materials in their collections. However, the deteriorating economy crippled library operations and development. In addition, most links between the formerly integrated libraries disappeared.

Today, the Russian State Library, with holdings of more than 40 million items, is one of the largest libraries in the world. Another important library in the Russian Federation is the National Library of Russia in Saint Petersburg (formerly the Imperial Public Library and later the M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin State Public Library), which maintains large collections of manuscripts, incunabula (materials produced before 1501), music scores, maps, and microforms. In addition, Russia has more than 3,000 libraries in the secondary and higher education systems.

Since the early 1990s the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Hungary have utilized modern information technology to upgrade their governmental and special information resource centers. Romania’s two national libraries—the Library of the Academy of Romania and the National Library—contain some 18 million items. Romania has an extensive system of other libraries as well, including about 3,000 public libraries and 64 academic libraries.

C.

The Middle East

The origin and history of libraries and library studies can be traced to the area of southwest Asia and northeast Africa known as the Middle East. Ancient civilizations flourished in this region and collected their knowledge in impressive libraries such as those in Alexandria and Pergamum. The Islamic civilization was equally intent on preserving and advancing human knowledge in mosque libraries, also known as madrassas (schools).

In the late 20th century many Middle Eastern nations established new libraries and directed increased funds to existing institutions. Most of this development was stimulated by soaring oil profits in some countries, the spread of printed materials, the secularization of many nations, and the introduction of new technology. Library development was also influenced by programs established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Tunisia and Saudi Arabia incorporated libraries into their national development plans after UNESCO set up a 1974 meeting in Cairo, Egypt, for Middle Eastern nations to discuss the potential of libraries in aiding national planning. In the 1980s and 1990s other countries in the Middle East developed similar investment plans, pouring money into new information technologies to significantly improve existing library services.

Today, countries in the Middle East maintain a wide variety of national, academic, public, school, and special libraries. By the 1990s many of these libraries had begun to use computers and telecommunications technologies in their library services and operations. However, most libraries in the region were slow to link themselves and their users to the Internet due to prohibitive costs, government regulations, and a general lack of technical abilities among librarians and users. Nevertheless, many libraries in the region feature information on CD-ROM, including databases, indexes, and texts of journals and periodicals.

1.

National Libraries

The oldest national libraries in the Middle East include the Algerian National Library (established in 1835), which contains notable collections of early Islamic manuscripts, and the Egyptian National Library (1870), which has one of the world’s best collections of papyrus manuscripts. During the 20th century, other Middle Eastern countries established national libraries: the National Library of Iraq was founded in 1920, the National Library of Jordan in 1990, and the National Library of Kuwait in 1995. In Israel, the library at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem operates as a national library. Afghanistan maintains its national library at Kābul University.

National libraries in the Middle East commonly fall under the jurisdiction of each country’s ministry of culture. As in other regions of the world, Middle Eastern national libraries serve as national copyright depositories and as centers for the preservation of national heritage. They also publish national bibliographies and lists of national periodicals, and they preserve valuable and rare manuscripts in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish, Coptic, Armenian, and other languages. Most are open to the public and some administer public library branches.

The size of the holdings in Middle Eastern national libraries varies considerably. In the late 1990s it ranged from as few as 14,000 volumes in the National Library of Mauritania to 950,000 volumes in the Algerian National Library, 1.5 million volumes in the Tunisian National Library, and 9.8 million volumes in the Egyptian National Library. The facilities of the region’s national libraries also differ from one another. While Syria’s Assad National Library is housed in a spacious six-story building completed in 1984, the Tunisian National Library, with its nearly 1.5 million volumes, remains in its original, cramped 1910 building in Souk el-Attarine, Tunis. The National Library of Turkey, in Ankara, houses its 1.5 million volumes in a modern building that features several reading rooms, an exhibition hall, two concert halls, a computer center, and other facilities.

2.

Academic Libraries

Cairo University, founded in 1908 in Cairo, Egypt, is the oldest secular university in the Middle East, and it has one of the region’s largest academic libraries. At the end of the 20th century, Egypt had 12 public universities spread all over the country, each of which contained significant library holdings. Some of Egypt’s most notable academic library collections are those at the private universities of the American University in Cairo; Al-Azhar University, also in Cairo; and the Egyptian National University, which was founded in Giza in 1995.

In Iraq, nearly 90 academic libraries serve the country’s universities and institutes of technical higher education. The University of Baghdād, founded 1957, is the oldest and largest university in the country, maintaining a library collection of more than 800,000 volumes.

Jordan maintains more than 60 academic libraries at its universities and other institutes of higher learning. The oldest university in the country is the University of Jordan at Amman, founded in 1962. Its central library contains more than 500,000 volumes. The country’s other notable academic libraries are located at Mu’tah University (founded in 1984) in Al Karak and at the Jordan University of Science and Technology (1986) in Irbid.

The American University of Beirut in Lebanon maintains one of the largest academic library collections in the Middle East. It is especially renowned for its holdings in the medical sciences. Other notable libraries at Middle Eastern universities include the libraries of the University of Tehrān in Iran and the University of Ankara in Turkey.

In Israel, the Jewish National and University Library is located at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The library contains more than 4 million volumes, including 200 early manuscripts and books in more than 80 languages. It also has special collections in medicine, chemistry, music, cartography, and other subjects. Other large academic libraries in Israel include those at the University of Haifa and at Tel Aviv University.

3.

Public Libraries

The countries of the Middle East maintain a large number of public libraries, but relatively few of these feature good collections and attractive facilities. Most libraries that serve the general public suffer from shortages of books, space, and funds. For example, public libraries in Saudi Arabia typically have between 5,000 and 30,000 volumes; only a few have collections of more than 50,000 books. However, a few countries maintain relatively broad networks of public libraries to serve their populations. For example, Turkey maintains more than 1,000 public libraries throughout the country, many with relatively large collections and modern facilities.

In several countries of the Middle East, the general public has access to libraries originally established by the British Council and the American Cultural Center,

institutions that promote the exchange of cultural information. Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iran, provide separate public library services for men, women, and children. In Israel, a unit of the Ministry of Education and Culture supervises, administers, and guides the modern public library system.

4.

School Libraries

In the countries of the Middle East that produce oil, relatively well-funded school libraries occupy modern facilities and maintain collections managed by professional librarians. In Kuwait, for example, libraries in secondary schools are generally equipped to serve as many as 50 students at a time with collections that adequately support the school curriculum. However, poorer countries cannot always provide strong library services in their schools. Among Jordan’s more than 3,600 high schools, some maintain well-stocked libraries, while others provide no library services at all. In Iran, the few school libraries that exist are generally run by a school staff member rather than by a professional librarian.

5.

Special Libraries

During the second half of the 20th century, various corporations, organizations, and government agencies throughout the Middle East began emphasizing the establishment and expansion of special libraries and information centers. These institutions provide users in specialized fields with access to information and collections not available in public and university libraries.

In Saudi Arabia, special libraries provide highly valued services to the government and businesses. For example, the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) first developed a special library of energy-related materials during the 1950s. By the 1990s it had grown to include a law library, a medical library, an Arabian affairs library, and numerous technical libraries. Many of the government ministries throughout Saudi Arabia also have their own specialized libraries. Egypt maintains special libraries to serve most of its government ministries and agencies. Examples of special libraries and information centers in Egypt include the Institute of Public Administration Library, the Science Documentation Center of the Atomic Energy Commission, and the National Information and Documentation Center. In Israel, businesses and organizations receive support from the central government to develop special libraries in the sciences and technology. In Kuwait, the National Scientific and Technical Information Center provides extensive information and library services to Kuwaiti scientists.

6.Library Associations

Libraries in the Middle East have developed relatively few collective associations. The scarcity of library associations is due in part to the lack of interlibrary cooperation among the various countries and also to political instability in the region.

The oldest library association was founded in Egypt in 1945 as the Cairo Library Association. A few years later it was renamed the Egyptian Library, Information, and Archives Association and became a member of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). The Jordanian Library Association has published a number of reference tools for professionals, including an Arabic translation of the Dewey Decimal Classification system. In Iran, the Tehrān Book Processing Center operates as a type of library association by promoting librarianship and improvements to libraries across the country. The two professional library associations in Israel, the Israeli Library Association and the Israel Society of Special Libraries and Information Centers, are both members of IFLA. An international Arab Federation of Library Associations was established in 1996.

D.

Latin America

The region known as Latin America includes the entire western hemisphere south of the United States. The nations of Latin America range from the many Spanish-speaking countries of the region to French-speaking Haiti, Portuguese-speaking Brazil, and the English-speaking nations of the Caribbean and adjacent mainland. Libraries share certain characteristics among the various countries of Latin America, but they also reveal significant differences from one country to the next.

Before most Latin American countries gained independence from European countries in the 19th century, Roman Catholic monasteries and convents generally kept the most important library collections on the continent. Many individuals in Latin America also maintained extensive private libraries, some of which later served as the foundation for research or academic collections. Most countries established national libraries not long after gaining independence, although two national libraries—those in Colombia and Ecuador—trace their history to the 18th century. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Latin American libraries began to adopt library organization practices such as the Dewey Decimal Classification system and European indexing techniques. In the 1980s some of the largest libraries in Latin America and the Caribbean began introducing automated library systems and many now provide access to the Internet.

1. Mexico

Library at National Autonomous University of Mexico 

Library at National Autonomous University of MexicoThe Central Library of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City is one of the best-known libraries in Latin America. Mexican architect and artist Juan O’Gorman designed the building. Its colorful mosaic tiles depict precolonial Mexico.Encarta EncyclopediaLiba Taylor/Hutchison Library

Full Size

Mexico’s National Library is affiliated with the country’s national university, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, or UNAM) in Mexico City. The UNAM’s Institute of Bibliographical Research administers the National Library’s extensive collection of rare documents from Mexican history. The institute also administers the national periodical collection, the Hemeroteca Nacional de México.

Aside from hosting the National Library, the UNAM is home to the country’s largest library, the Central Library, which is one of the most important academic libraries in Latin America. Built in the early 1950s, the Central Library was designed by Mexican architect and artist Juan O’Gorman, who decorated its exterior with colorful mosaic tiles depicting precolonial Mexico. Before the UNAM’s library was founded, most universities in Latin America divided their collections among separate faculty and research institute libraries. The UNAM formed a single coordinated library system for its entire institution, and this allowed the university to minimize costs by avoiding unnecessary duplication of expensive publications. Other Mexican universities in the region maintained small, inadequate libraries, so they closed these facilities, consolidated their resources in the UNAM’s Central Library, and allowed their students and faculty to access the collections there.

By the mid-1990s there were more than 5,000 public libraries in Mexico, a dramatic increase from less than 400 public libraries in 1980. This achievement resulted from an ambitious program of public library expansion that was begun in the early 1980s by the federal government in collaboration with states, cities, and towns. As part of this expansion plan, a federal agency known as the General Directorate of Libraries acquires and catalogs materials, sets standards, and provides orientation for library staff. State and local authorities provide staff members with adequate library facilities and salaries. The primary mission of the libraries is to serve the general public. Because school libraries in Mexico are generally inadequate, all public libraries also make provisions for children’s academic and recreational needs.

The largest of the country’s public libraries is the Library of Mexico in Mexico City. In addition to providing standard library materials, it has a rare-book collection, issues its own journal, and features a special reading room devoted to Mexican history and culture.

The Benjamin Franklin Library (Biblioteca Benjamin Franklin, or BBF) also serves readers in Mexico. The BBF is known as the forerunner of information resource centers maintained around the globe by the U.S. Department of State. These centers are designed to promote American culture abroad. With initial support from the State Department through a grant to the American Library Association, the BBF first opened in 1942 and served all types of readers, from children to scholars, with circulating collections on open shelves. At one time the total collections exceeded 50,000 volumes, including many American scholarly journals.

Most of Mexico’s many special libraries serve government agencies and businesses in the capital city. For example, the National Council for Science and Technology provides

government and industry workers with information and training in the scientific and technological fields.

2.

Central America

During the last decades of the 20th century, Central America was marked by civil strife: the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua (1978-1990), a civil war in El Salvador (1979-1992), and a U.S. invasion of Panama (1989), among other upheavals. The Central American country of Costa Rica remained relatively peaceful during this period, and it devoted much of its national budget to education and improving social conditions. As a result, Costa Rica offers the region’s best public library services and access to foreign information databases. It also has the best national information networks in medicine and several other scientific fields. Public library service is not as good in other Central American countries. However, several governments and international aid agencies have opened cultural centers in rural areas, and some of these centers have modest collections available to the general public.

a.School Libraries

Central America maintains very few school libraries, although the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) sponsored a pilot project in the 1960s to establish school libraries in Honduras. The project had laid some foundations for school library service by the late 1970s when it was suspended due to political instability in the region. UNESCO revived the program in the late 1980s after most political unrest had subsided.

b.National Libraries

The relatively poor governments of Central American countries have had difficulty maintaining national libraries amidst political unrest and various environmental disasters. For example, an earthquake in 1972 severely damaged the Rubén Darío National Library building in Managua, Nicaragua. However, with help from the Swedish International Development Agency, the library was able to relocate, increase its holdings, install modern library automation, compile a national bibliography, and expand public library service in the interior of Nicaragua. El Salvador’s national library suffered damage from an earthquake in 1986, and reconstruction has been hampered by a lack of resources. In addition to maintaining a national library, El Salvador is home to an independent private institution, the Gallardo Library, whose collections include some manuscripts from the colonial era.

c.University Libraries

University libraries in Central America generally offer better and more comprehensive services than do national libraries in the region. In Guatemala, the country’s five universities work together to improve library access, issue a directory, and compile a union list of periodicals. The Francisco Marroquín University in Guatemala City provides modern services such as an online catalog and access to the MEDLINE database of medical journal information, published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Most university libraries in El Salvador have inadequate quarters, very small collections, and little service beyond circulation of reserve books. The government closed the national University of El Salvador during much of the civil war, so most university library development occurred in the country’s private institutions. El Salvador’s oldest private university, the Central American University of José Simeón Cañas (founded in 1965), features the country’s largest collection of materials. After the end of the civil war, the national university began a strategic plan for library development, partially funded by the government of Spain.

The National Autonomous University of Honduras in Tegucigalpa has a central library with adequate quarters, including a state-of-the-art audiovisual center. The university also maintains branch libraries at its medical school and at its campus in San Pedro Sula.

3.

Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela

The countries in the Andes mountain region of South America are Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Each of these countries maintains a national library. The largest collections are those of the national libraries of Peru and Venezuela, each of which has more than 1 million volumes. In 1943 a fire destroyed most of Peru’s national library, including its irreplaceable historical manuscripts. With international assistance, however, Peru not only rebuilt the library building but also modernized the library’s equipment and operating procedures. The national library of Colombia, in Bogotá, dates from 1777. The building’s facilities are largely out of date. Ecuador maintains a modern national library in the capital city of Quito. Bolivia also offers modern library services in Sucre. Venezuela’s national library became an independent agency in the 1970s, and later it increased its collections, created an automated bibliography and catalog system, and began a conservation program. The library also administers a national system of public libraries.

One of Latin America’s most important libraries is the Luis Ángel Arango Library in Bogotá, Colombia. Now a public library, the Arango Library began as an outgrowth of the modest special library of economics materials collected by Colombia’s central bank. It became a general independent library in 1958 and moved into a new building with 11 reading rooms in 1990. Another important library is the Pilot Public Library for Latin America, established in 1954 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Medellín, Colombia. This library has achieved enormous success in providing public access to information for the people of Medellín. Public

library service in other parts of Colombia is not as strong, although both the Colombian Institute of Culture (COLCULTURA) and the Arango Library provide subsidies of various types to libraries in smaller cities.

Ministries of education in Andean countries lack budgets adequate to devote much attention to library development in elementary schools. However, secondary schools—especially private secondary schools—often have modest libraries that support the academic curriculum. In Bolivia, the Book Bank, established in 1970, provides library service to students and the general public throughout the country. Operating from headquarters in La Paz, it maintains more than 100 branches, each having about 1,000 volumes.

Despite having poor collections early in the 20th century, university libraries in the Andean countries began to improve markedly in the 1970s. For example, Colombia constructed central libraries on new university campuses. In many cases, funds for these libraries were provided by the Inter-American Development Bank, an independent intergovernmental body. Colombian universities also received technical assistance to modernize their libraries from a federal agency known as the Colombian Institute for the Promotion of Higher Education. In addition, university libraries hired new staff members from among recent graduates of the country’s Inter-American Library School. Academic libraries followed similar patterns of development elsewhere in the Andean region.

Most special libraries in Andean countries serve government ministries and private research institutes. Although the region’s national scientific research councils are active and well funded, they generally devote their resources to gaining access to international databases rather than to developing their own collections of specialized journals and other materials.

4.

Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay

The southernmost Latin American countries are Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Except for Paraguayans, the people in those countries have a stronger tradition of buying books and forming private libraries than do citizens in the rest of Latin America. Over the years many of these private collections have been incorporated into national, public, and academic libraries in the region.

The responsibilities of the national libraries in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay differ from many of those in the rest of the world because they do not directly serve each country’s parliament. Instead, each of these countries maintains a separate parliamentary library with collections designed to serve government legislators. The Chilean national library in Santiago contains approximately 3.5 million volumes. It also administers the country’s fledgling public library system. In addition, the national library maintains a special room housing the 40,000-volume collection of Latin America’s most influential bibliographer, Chilean librarian José Toribio Medina, who lived in the late 19th and early 20th

centuries. Argentina’s national library, established in Buenos Aires in 1810, is in the process of reorganizing its large collection. Paraguay also maintains a small national library.

The University of Buenos Aires maintains one of the largest collections of library materials in southern Latin America. The university’s collection is distributed throughout the city in a number of separate faculty and research institute libraries. In 1941 a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation helped establish a coordinating office for the various units of the university library system. Argentina also maintains a strong collection at its oldest university, the National University of Córdoba (founded in 1613). As late as 1956 Argentina had only 7 institutions of higher education, all funded by the central government. Since then, however, new universities have multiplied rapidly, bringing the total to more than 50. Most of the new universities have small library holdings, but some have initiated aggressive acquisitions programs.

Chile’s national university, the University of Chile (founded in 1738), maintains that country’s largest and most comprehensive library collection. Like the University of Buenos Aires, it has several campuses and administers a decentralized library system. Other notable university libraries in Chile include those at the Catholic University of Valparaíso and at the Federico Santa María Technical University, also in Valparaíso.

5.

Brazil

Most of Brazil’s libraries are concentrated in urban areas, leaving poor and rural populations largely underserved. The most advanced and numerous library services exist in the southern Brazilian states, especially São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, and Rio Grande do Sul. The northern states maintain relatively few libraries, and these are generally ill-equipped.

Brazil’s National Library, established in 1910, is housed in an impressive but crowded building in downtown Rio de Janeiro. The National Library is one of the largest libraries in Latin America, with a collection that exceeds 3 million volumes. It also contains manuscripts, musical scores, maps, and other materials. The National Library’s rare-book collection includes early printed documents from colonial Brazil as well as from the private library of 19th-century Brazilian emperor Pedro II. The National Library receives all Brazilian publications submitted for copyright protection and also publishes the national bibliography. The Brazilian Institute for Scientific and Technical Information was established in 1954 to improve access to information in the sciences and technology. It also trains personnel for positions in scientific and technical fields, and it develops pioneering uses of technology.

Until the second half of the 20th century, many Brazilian students of higher education attended small, university-level schools that were unaffiliated with any larger, centralized institution. Instead of having access to libraries at large, well-funded universities, these

university students used whatever library services their small school could provide. Many students also used the libraries of museums, research institutes, and other cultural institutions. Brazilian higher education experienced radical changes after the military took control of the government in 1964. Local universities came under federal control, enrollments soared, and many institutions moved to newly constructed campuses with central library buildings. By the time the government returned to civilian control in 1979, most institutions had developed centrally administered university library systems. Today there are more library staff members, and they receive professional training and maintain large, comprehensive collections. The National Program for University Libraries, established in 1986, encourages cooperation among both public and private university libraries. Brazilian universities also maintain a centralized online catalog system.

Public library service does not reach the entire Brazilian population, but a considerable number of public libraries do exist throughout the country. State libraries offer most public library services in the capitals of individual states. A few state libraries also maintain branches outside the capital cities, but service is quite limited in most rural areas. For many years the government has administered the National Book Institute, which provides limited quantities of books to all types of Brazilian libraries.

The Mário Andrade Municipal Library in São Paulo is the largest and best-known of the country’s public libraries. It is supported by the city, and the main building is a public landmark housing a large noncirculating collection. The Mário Andrade Municipal Library also maintains branches throughout the city that provide circulating materials to adult members of the general public. Children in São Paulo receive library services through a separately administered Children’s Library that maintains its own main library as well as branches throughout the metropolitan area. Some facilities jointly house branches of the city and the children’s libraries.

Brazil does not maintain a widespread network of school libraries. However, many schools have benefited from the National Textbook Program, a project jointly administered by the United States Agency for International Development and the federal government of Brazil. Begun in the late 1960s, the program has provided millions of books for elementary and secondary schools as well as for institutes of higher education. Although it was not principally a library project, it laid a foundation for the later development of at least minimal library service in the schools.

The many special libraries in Brazil primarily serve various industrial sectors and government agencies. Among the country’s largest special libraries is the Latin American and Caribbean Health Science Information Centre in São Paulo. This library was created in part with assistance of the Pan American Health Organization, an international public health agency. Many of the special libraries with science and technology collections are linked by national information networks in fields such as agriculture, petroleum, nuclear energy, and health sciences.

6.The Caribbean

The Caribbean is the most diverse region in Latin America, and its diversity significantly complicates the development of regional library associations and networks in the region. One example of this diversity is language: Not all Caribbean populations speak the same language, so fewer Caribbean libraries are able to participate in interlibrary loans than are libraries in other regions of the world.

Cuba’s José Martí National Library is the oldest and largest national library in the Caribbean, but since the 1960s it has operated with a very limited budget. Despite these financial constraints, its collection has grown to more than 2 million volumes. The national library also administers all of Cuba’s public libraries. Haiti has maintained a small national library in Port-au-Prince since 1940. In the Dominican Republic, the National Autonomous University of Santo Domingo performed all of the functions of a national library until 1971, when the country established an official national library in Santo Domingo. In Jamaica, the West India Reference Library of the Institute of Jamaica formed the basis for the National Library of Jamaica, which was established in 1979.

Academic libraries are among the most numerous and best-supported libraries in the Caribbean. In the Dominican Republic, for example, two private institutions—the Pedro Henríquez Ureña University and the Catholic University, Mother and Teacher—have developed strong collections and provide reference and circulation services to their students and faculty. In addition, the publicly supported Technological Institute is a valuable source for scientific information. The most extensive academic libraries in the Caribbean are maintained by the University of the West Indies, which operates campuses in three separate nations—Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados—and is funded by 14 governments in the English-speaking Caribbean. The library on each campus serves faculty and students in different subject areas unique to each unit, but the three collections form one system and operate under one director.

Although there are public libraries on many of the Caribbean islands, most are small and inadequate. In Jamaica, however, the government-funded Jamaica Library Service (JLS) maintains a system of 13 regional libraries, consisting of more than 150 branches and more than 500 bookmobile stops. Annual circulation exceeds 2 million volumes checked out to about 700,000 registered borrowers. JLS also administers a thriving library service for primary and secondary schools.

E.

Asia

Although Asia has a rich cultural heritage, with written records extending back some 4,000 years, libraries were slow to emerge in the region. Temples and centers of religious learning established most of the earliest Asian libraries that had sizable collections. These institutions developed in the period that roughly corresponds to the European Middle

Ages, from about the 5th century to the 15th century. At the same time, court libraries grew to coexist with religious libraries in most Asian countries. Use of these libraries was restricted to court officials or to religious leaders. It was not until the early 20th century that Asian libraries became accessible to a wide public, and for the most part public library systems did not emerge until after World War II ended in 1945.

In general, Asian libraries have been slow to automate their operations, although many libraries in China, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan do have computerized systems. In the late 1990s most computer use in Asia was limited to microcomputer management of circulation. However, the public has access to online catalogs in increasing numbers of Asian libraries, particularly in documentation centers and national libraries. The high cost of international telephone lines and the slow delivery of documents from overseas have inhibited more rapid growth of online searching.

1.

National Libraries

Most Asian countries maintain national libraries. The National Library of China, founded in Beijing in 1909, contains more than 18 million volumes, making it Asia’s largest collection. In 1987 it moved into a new facility in Beijing that is one of the world’s largest library buildings. The Japanese National Diet Library was established in 1948. It has about 7 million volumes and ranks as one of Asia’s most important book collections. The Japanese government also produces the National Center for Science Information System, an online database of information at Japanese national university libraries. India’s National Library, established in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1948, traces its roots to the Kolkata Public Library, which was established in 1836. The National Library of India maintains collections of materials written in the country’s many languages. India also maintains its National Archives in New Delhi.

Other national libraries have been established in Bangladesh (1971), Indonesia (1980), Laos (1969), Malaysia (1971), Myanmar (1952; then known as Burma), Pakistan (1951), the Philippines (1928), Singapore (1958), South Korea (1923), Sri Lanka (1990), Thailand (1905), and Vietnam (1959). All of these libraries maintain large collections and offer services for librarians, government agencies, scholars, and members of the general public. Many of these national libraries also serve as national depositories and as national archives, which maintain historical government documents. Many Asian countries publish national bibliographies through their national libraries. These bibliographies serve as complete lists of books issued in each country. Some national bibliographies also list publications in other formats, such as periodicals and video or audio materials.

2.

University Libraries

Libraries in Asian universities vary considerably in both quality and size. The earliest academic libraries in Asia were established in India. Scholars believe that an excellent library served Taxila University in northwest India (founded in AD 414), but the university and its library were destroyed during an invasion later in the 5th century. The oldest existing university library in Asia was founded at the University of Calcutta in 1873. Libraries at the University of Bombay and the University of Madras, both in India, opened soon afterward. Indian academic libraries have benefited considerably from the efforts of American librarian Asa Don Dickinson, who served at the University of the Punjab in 1915 and 1916. Dickinson promoted the concept of the university librarian as an individual with specialized training, in contrast to the traditional librarian in Asian countries whose qualifications were generally limited to academic scholarship. Dickinson also wrote the first specifically Asian textbook on librarianship, The Punjab Library Primer (1916), and in 1916 he established one of the first library associations in Asia.

Asia’s largest academic libraries are at the University of Tokyo in Japan and at Beijing University in China. Other notable university libraries include those at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Qinghua University in China, Ewha Women’s University in South Korea, the University of Malaya in Malaysia, the University of the Punjab in Pakistan, the University of the Philippines, and the National Taiwan University. Despite these examples of modern, well-equipped academic libraries, most libraries in Asian universities function as small, decentralized departmental units with poorly trained staff and inadequate collections. Most also lack important services such as reference, interlibrary loan, and circulation of materials.

3.

School Libraries

Most countries in Asia did not begin to establish libraries in elementary and secondary schools until the late 20th century. In countries that do have school libraries, staffing and collections are frequently inadequate, and most libraries are staffed by teachers rather than by professionals with specialized training. Some Asian governments have requirements for staffing and collection standards in school libraries, but authorities rarely enforce these standards. Nevertheless, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan have all established relatively successful school library systems.

4.

Public Libraries

Despite national efforts to establish public libraries in many countries of Asia, most Asians—particularly those in rural areas—remain without access to libraries of any type. Nevertheless, villages in several countries have small reading centers, and a number of cities maintain large municipal libraries. According to some estimates, China maintains more than 2,500 public libraries throughout the country. These libraries mainly offer

children’s and educational services, although their overall quality is poor. Japan’s 2,600 public libraries emphasize services for children, people with disabilities, and senior citizens. India maintains more than 40,000 public libraries—the greatest number in Asia—but most of them have minimal collections and no professional staff. In addition, more than 80 percent of the literate population in rural India still lack library service. The largest municipal library in Asia is the Shanghai Library in China; this library maintains a current, broad, international collection that exceeds 10 million items.

5.

Special Libraries

Apart from national libraries, the most advanced libraries in Asia are special libraries. These libraries serve various government agencies as well as researchers and practitioners in specific fields such as agriculture, law, and the health sciences. Among the leading health sciences libraries are those maintained by the International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Dhaka, Bangladesh; China Medical University in T’aichung, Taiwan; and Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. The Chinese Academy of Sciences also maintains a general collection of more than 5 million volumes on various scientific subjects.

Many Asian countries have linked together the resources and services of various special libraries using computerized networks. The libraries establish these links in so-called documentation centers, which offer researchers translations, photocopies, reference assistance, and location information for library materials. In India, for example, the Indian National Scientific Documentation Center (INSDOC) produces Indian Science Abstracts and other bibliographies of scientific material, maintains a catalog of Indian scientific periodicals, and provides online database searching. Staff members locate documents not available locally and arrange to photocopy them and even to translate them. Individual scientists may register to receive notification of new publications in their fields of interest. The Indian National Information System for Science and Technology (NISSAT) coordinates the work of various Indian documentation centers, bringing wide exposure to the country’s extensive network of special libraries.

6.

Library Education and Professional Associations

Librarianship was slow to develop as a professional course of study in Asian universities, but in the second half of the 20th century programs of library education proliferated throughout the region. These programs also became more specialized, focusing on Asian libraries in particular, and the quality of the programs steadily improved. By the 1990s universities in India maintained 75 library schools, more than any other country in the world. About 50 of these offered master’s degrees, and 25 offered doctorates as well. About 50 universities in China award library science bachelor’s degrees, and those in

Beijing and Wuhan also offer master’s degrees. Other Asian nations with university-level programs in library science include Bangladesh, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand.

Many library education programs in Asian countries are based on American or British models. The Japan Library School in Keio University, for example, is based on American university departments of library and information science. Likewise, many of the programs of library education in India are based on those at British universities. A significant number of Asian students of library and information science attend programs in the United States or Europe. Asian graduates of Western schools are working in libraries throughout Asia.

Most Asian countries have professional associations of librarians. These associations were established primarily after World War II, although Japan’s dates from 1892 and India’s from 1916. Some professional library associations represent larger regions, such as the Congress of South East Asian Librarians, established in 1970. The Commonwealth Library Association was established in 1972 and represents professional librarians throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, an association of independent nations—many of them in Asia—that were generally once colonies of the British Empire. In some countries, such as Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore, library associations have contributed to the establishment of official standards for various types of libraries.

F.

Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific

Libraries did not exist in Australia, New Zealand, or the South Pacific until the early 19th century, but they have developed rapidly since then. Today, many libraries throughout the region feature state-of-the-art services and resources.

1.

Australia

Australia’s first public library, the Wesleyan Library, was established in 1825 in Hobart, Tasmania. The library was housed in a chapel, and most of its collection consisted of religious materials. Australia introduced a more secular library in 1827 when it established its first school for the education of workers, known as a mechanics’ institute, also in Hobart. Other mechanics’ institutes were soon established in different parts of the country. Most maintained small libraries and reading rooms with collections designed to improve the skills of laborers. They generally relied on voluntary subscriptions and charity for support.

Australian colonial governments first established tax-supported public libraries in the Australian capital cities of Melbourne, Victoria (1853); Sydney, New South Wales

(1869); Hobart, Tasmania (1870); Adelaide, South Australia (1884); Perth, Western Australia (1886); and Brisbane, Queensland (1896). All of these public libraries in capital cities eventually evolved into state libraries featuring strong collections in their state’s history.

Today almost all Australians have access to public library services. Most metropolitan public libraries provide fiction and nonfiction books, reference collections with research links to the state library, online catalogs, children’s services, and newspapers and magazines. Some offer large-print and foreign-language books, audio and video materials, local history collections, deliveries to homebound users, Internet access, adult literacy programs, bookmobiles, and outreach services to Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders.

When the Australian colonies became a nation in 1901, the federal government took the first steps in creating a national library by establishing the Parliamentary Library in Melbourne in 1901. The library moved to Canberra with the parliament in 1927, and it became the National Library of Australia in 1960. The National Library’s strengths include a wealth of materials on Australian history, Asia, and the Pacific. Among these materials are the extensive Petherick collection of Australiana and the journal of 18th-century British explorer Captain James Cook describing Cook’s circumnavigation of the world in the ship Endeavour. The National Library’s publications include the Australian National Bibliography, Australian Government Publications, and the Australian Public Affairs Information Service periodical index. Its Kinetica service promotes resource sharing through the National Bibliographic Database, which contains bibliographic records of the collections of more than 700 member libraries. The library also managed the Australian Joint Copying Project, a cooperative venture from 1948 to 1993 that reproduced on microfilm British historical records relating to Australia and the Pacific. The Pacific Manuscripts Bureau of the library preserved on microfilm significant unpublished material in the Pacific Islands.

Members of the Philosophical Society of Australia established the country’s first special library in Sydney in 1821. Over the years, Australia has developed a wide range of special library and information services, including those run by federal and state parliaments, various government departments, private corporations, professional associations, and community groups. Today the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization operates a network library service with branch libraries that support research divisions around the country. The Department of Defense also operates an extensive network of libraries that serves the army, navy, air force, and related defense programs. The Department of the Attorney General provides online databases covering Australian legal journals and federal statute and case law.

Although the first Australian universities were founded in the early 1850s, it was several decades before they developed significant library collections. University enrollment expanded after World War II ended in 1945, and federal government funding for Australian universities greatly increased during the 1950s and 1960s. Several new universities were founded during this period, and by 1975 Australia had 19 universities

with combined library holdings of about 9 million volumes. Universities with notable library collections include the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales, the University of Melbourne, the Australian National University, the University of Queensland, Monash University, La Trobe University, and Deakin University. Many of the university libraries cooperate through regional networks that provide shared cataloging, reciprocal borrowing, joint storage, and other services.

Libraries existed in many public and private schools in Australia in the early 20th century, but they were poor by modern standards. Between 1969 and 1985 the Australian federal and state governments greatly improved this situation by providing special funding for school library buildings, books, equipment, and librarian training programs. All state education authorities developed some centralized support for school libraries. This support took various forms, such as cataloging, book processing, or publication of journals. Schools in rural and isolated areas often formed libraries to serve both the school and the community. Today, Australian schools maintain more than 10,000 libraries for students of all ages.

The first Australian program in professional library education was established at the University of New South Wales in Sydney in 1959. By the end of the 20th century there were 12 schools of librarianship. Most offered both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and programs. Today, several technical colleges also offer programs for the training of library technicians. The Australian Library and Information Association publishes journals, holds conferences, and provides professional support services for librarians and library technicians.

2. New Zealand

University of Auckland 

University of AucklandFounded in 1882 as part of the University of New Zealand, the University of Auckland became an independent institution in 1962. The Clock Tower Library, visible behind trees, is part of the university’s main campus, located in the center of Auckland.Encarta EncyclopediaGeoff Mason/Key-Light Image Library

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New Zealand’s first public library was a mechanics’ institute for the education of workers, established in Wellington in 1841. Until the 1950s most public libraries in New Zealand charged fees for lending services. Today, most New Zealand public libraries offer a full range of services free of charge. Many offer specialized collections and services for Maori and other Polynesian groups.

The National Library of New Zealand was established in 1966 by combining the Alexander Turnbull Library, the General Assembly Library, and the National Library Service. Since 1987 it has been housed in a large, modern building in Wellington. The library publishes the New Zealand National Bibliography and operates the New Zealand Bibliographic Network.

New Zealand’s first university, the University of Otago, was founded in 1869 and quickly developed a sizable library. New Zealand later established other institutions of higher education, particularly after the end of World War II. By 1996 the country maintained seven state-supported universities as well as several technical institutes and teachers colleges, each with its own library. The University of Auckland is the largest university in New Zealand—it has more than 1.5 million volumes in its library.

3.

South Pacific Islands

Among the island nations of the South Pacific, Fiji has the longest tradition of public library services. The Suva City Library was established in 1908 by the Carnegie Corporation of New York as part of an effort to establish free public libraries throughout the world. Eventually, the Library Service of Fiji assumed responsibility for regional public libraries, as well as for government and school libraries. Collections are primarily in English.

Regional organizations such as the South Pacific Commission provide valuable library and archival resources for governments, industry, and scientific research in the region. They also maintain information networks related to agriculture, marine resources, and the environment. The Fiji Library Association was formed in 1972 and publishes the Fiji Library Journal, a professional journal for Fijian librarians. The Pacific Islands Association of Libraries and Archives was founded in 1991 and publishes the Directory of Libraries, Archives, and Museums in Micronesia.

G.

Africa

Throughout the early 20th century, foreign organizations drove the effort to create libraries in Africa, often through the contributions of international agencies such as the British Council, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the now abolished United

States Information Agency, whose functions were transferred to the State Department. Before former colonies in Africa gained independence in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, most libraries were modeled on those in France, Britain, and Portugal; these countries were the major colonial powers in Africa. With independence, however, most countries have tried to shake off colonial influences and develop libraries based on local cultures and traditions.

In an effort to develop a stronger local foundation for African libraries, many African countries have formed international library networks. In the late 1970s, for example, Marxist governments in Portuguese-speaking nations of Africa used central planning of library services to implement new technologies and to improve literacy. Within a decade several of these countries had joined the International Center of Bantu Civilizations, a network created to meet Central African documentation needs. French-speaking countries in Africa have also formed library networks. In 1989 the French Ministry of Cooperation and Development signed agreements with 14 French-speaking African nations to develop general reading programs for local populations. The ministry also supported efforts in Cameroon, Niger, Madagascar, and Burkina Faso to establish automated national databases of information.

Unstable economies, poor telecommunications infrastructure, and weak distribution channels have all slowed the application of modern technology to library services in Africa. Nevertheless, by the 1990s many university and research libraries featured state-of-the-art equipment, often purchased through grants from a variety of international agencies and foundations. Most funding came from various agencies of the United Nations, with aid also provided by the World Bank, the British Council, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Ford Foundation.

Computers enable many African academic and special libraries to share resources through local area networks. These libraries also use computers to provide users with online public access catalogs, information in CD-ROM format, and lists of periodicals and other bibliographic databases. CD-ROMs have found a wide acceptance in African academic libraries and research institutes, mainly because the discs are capable of storing large volumes of information and do not require online telephone communication for access.

With the exception of the few public libraries established by international groups, almost no African public libraries used modern technology as recently as the late 1990s. Computers and related equipment were similarly scarce in school libraries, except for libraries of privately funded high schools. South Africa, the most technologically developed country in Africa, established online information retrieval services for academic libraries in the mid-1970s and an online national bibliographic and information network in 1983. By the late 1990s most academic libraries in South Africa provided access to the Internet.

1.National Libraries

Like their counterparts in other parts of the world, national libraries in Africa are maintained by the federal government. They serve various branches of the government and function as a link between their countries and others in the interchange of information. They also function as legal depositories for publications in their countries, receiving copies of all publications submitted for copyright protection. Some African national libraries are responsible for public library development in their countries.

The need for universities, and therefore university libraries, was for many years a higher priority than the establishment of national libraries in most African countries. As a result, many university libraries performed the functions of national libraries. For example, the library of the University of Ibadan, in Nigeria, acted as a legal depository for all Nigerian publications and also published the National Bibliography of Nigeria until the National Library of Nigeria was established in 1962. The same is true of the libraries at the University of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia; the University of Khartoum, in Sudan; University College of Swaziland; and Makerere University, in Uganda.

By the 1990s nearly every African country had a national library located in the capital city of the country. Among the English-speaking countries of Africa, some of the most notable national libraries are the National Library of Nigeria in Lagos, the National Library of Kenya in Nairobi, the National Library of Swaziland in Mbabane, the National Library of Lesotho in Maseru, and the National Library of Gambia in Banjul. French-speaking countries maintain national libraries in Lomé, Togo; Tunis, Tunisia; Algiers, Algeria; Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Antananarivo, Madagascar; and Yaoundé, Cameroon. The national libraries of the Portuguese-speaking countries of Mozambique and Angola are located in Maputo and Luanda, respectively. South Africa maintains two national libraries: the South African Library in Cape Town and the State Library in Pretoria.

2.

Public Libraries

Public libraries in Africa trace their origins to the desire of European colonists to have access to the information resources of their home countries. As a result, the public libraries they established typically provided access only to specialized groups of European descendants and to elite Africans, not to the general public. For example, the first Lagos Public Library in Nigeria was established in 1932 with a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Despite being nominally public, it was inaccessible to most Nigerians because it was located on the grounds of the government houses.

In former British colonies of Africa, donations of English-language books significantly aided the development of public libraries. The British Council, which was instrumental in the establishment of libraries in many countries of Africa, continues to maintain libraries in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, and Tanzania. Most public

libraries are located in urban areas, but some countries, including Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania, have extended services to rural areas as well.

Public library development in Africa is often impeded because libraries must compete for scarce government funds with more urgent concerns, such as health care. Despite severe financial constraints, public officials have tried to make traditional public library services such as acquisition, lending, and reference available to all users regardless of age, sex, religion, or social status.

3.

Special Libraries

Colonial governments established the earliest special libraries in Africa to promote studies of practical value to colonial administrators. In British colonies, for example, special libraries reflected the colonial governments’ interest in agriculture, medicine, and geology. In Nigeria, British colonists established the Agricultural Research Department in Ibadan in 1910, the Medical Research Institute in Lagos in 1910, and the Nigeria Geological Survey Institute in Kaduna in 1919. All of these institutes had libraries to serve the research officers. Other European colonies in Africa established similar libraries for specialized research.

In South Africa, commercial and technological special libraries grew with industrialization, particularly after the end of World War II in 1945. By the 1990s more than 600 special libraries in South Africa served researchers in the fields of law, banking, agriculture, medicine, politics, and social sciences. In Malawi, Tanzania, and Kenya, the ministries of agriculture maintain central and branch libraries at research stations, training centers, and divisional offices. The central libraries perform acquisitions and then send the materials to branch libraries.

Some special libraries in Africa serve government officials in political capacities. For example, the Chama Cha Mapinduzi library in Tanzania was established by leaders of the government’s ruling political party as a means of obtaining information to support their political activities.

4.

University Libraries

The prime function of university libraries in Africa is the same as their function in other parts of the world: to provide library services to students and faculty members. Because most African universities were not founded until after World War II ended in 1945, their libraries have not had time to develop extensive collections. Important libraries founded before African countries gained independence in the mid- to late 20th century include the

library of Fourah Bay College, which was founded in 1827 in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and the library of the University of Liberia, which was established in Monrovia in 1862.

African university libraries vary in size but consist mainly of textbooks and—in larger universities—research materials. Many university libraries strive to give prominence to publications that are African in origin or are about Africa in general. Universities such as the University of Ibadan in Nigeria and the University of Khartoum in Sudan have large collections of African materials because they formerly acted as the national legal depositories for local authors. Today, African university libraries often acquire library materials through gifts and through exchanges with organizations and institutions in other parts of the world. Some international organizations also designate selected university libraries as their depositories. For example, the University of Ibadan receives certain documents from United Nations agencies.

5.

School Libraries

School libraries are distributed unevenly throughout Africa, and many areas remain poorly served. In some countries, such as Uganda, school libraries are the responsibility of the national library. In other countries, such as Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania, they are overseen by a national library board. In Nigeria, each state government is responsible for school library services within the state. Most school libraries in Tanzania, Nigeria, Zambia, and Ghana have been beneficiaries of donations from the Ranfurly Library Service, a British organization dedicated to eliminating world hunger through education.

Despite efforts to improve educational resources throughout the continent, most school libraries in Africa still suffer from lack of funds and lack of attention. However, private schools often maintain well-stocked libraries managed by professional librarians. Some of the more privileged school libraries provide lending, reference, and supplementary reading services.

6.

Library Education

Library education in most parts of Africa continues to reflect the influence of the European colonists, who built library schools, paid staff salaries, and provided scholarships for staff development and fellowships for students. The first regional library school in Africa was founded in Ghana in 1944 through the efforts of the Carnegie Corporation in collaboration with the British government. However, it closed its doors after only one year. In 1960 the Carnegie Corporation established the Library School at Ibadan, Nigeria. Now known as the School of Library, Archival, and Information Studies,

it offers paraprofessional training and bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees to enable students to become professional librarians.

The East African School of Librarianship at Makerere University, in Uganda, was established in 1963 in cooperation with three former East African British colonies: Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The Council for Library Training in East Africa was founded at the same time as a governing body for the school. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) provided a director and the British Council offered the services of a lecturer in library and information science.

Also in 1963 UNESCO opened the Regional Center for the Training of Librarians, a library school at Dakar, Senegal, that served as a regional training center for French-speaking countries of Africa. Before this, French-speaking Africans received most of their library training in France. In 1967 the center was attached to the University of Dakar as the School for Librarians, Archivists, and Documentalists.

In Zambia, the Department of Library Studies was established with UNESCO aid in 1966 as part of the school of education at the University of Zambia. The department of library science of the University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, runs a library science program through postgraduate levels.

At the University of Botswana, in Gaborone, the department of library studies was created in 1979 to provide paraprofessional training for librarians in Botswana, Lesotho, and Swaziland. By 1995 the department had become a professional school, offering training at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate levels and attracting students from nearly 20 countries.

As far back as 1933, the South African Library Association offered introductory courses in librarianship based on models established by the British Library Association. In 1948 the University of Pretoria introduced undergraduate courses in library science, and most other universities in South Africa followed suit during the 1950s and 1960s. Today, several South African universities offer postgraduate training in library and information science.