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Library Column

The evolution of libraries Have you ever wondered about the origin of the public library? Did you know that before the mid 1800s most libraries were privately owned? Only certain people could use them – scholars, clergy, university students and

The evolution of libraries

Have you ever wondered about the origin of the public library? Did you know that before the mid 1800s most libraries were privately owned? Only certain people could use them – scholars, clergy, university students and the wealthy. Today in many parts of the world, including North America, library materials are available for use by anyone.

Libraries have always served to make available the knowledge that has been accumulated through the ages as well as to preserve society’s cultural heritage. Library collections are important resources for our educational, informational and recreational needs.

Throughout the years libraries’ resources have improved – materials now include not only books, but films, recordings and online databases. Librarians assist users with their informational needs, provide programs for children and adults, organize school visits and visit day care centres. The library itself is a welcoming place, a far cry from the dark and unattractive libraries of the past.

The history of libraries parallels the history of writing. For about five centuries people have made written records of their ideas on a variety of materials: bone, clay, metal, wax, wood, papyrus, silk, leather, parchment, paper, film, plastic and magnetic tape.

The most famous library of ancient times was the library in Alexandria, Egypt, founded in the 330’s BC. The Librarian of Alexandria was one of the highest and most honourable official posts and was appointed by the king himself. The library housed the greatest collection of scrolls in the ancient world and had a copy of every existing scroll known to the library’s administrators, up to 700,000 scrolls at its peak, the equivalent of almost 125,000 printed books today. Not a trace of the library remains today and despite serious contradictions upon its fate, its destruction did take place over 450 years. The new Bibliotheca Alexandrina opened in 2001, after six years of construction. On 11 floors, it is an integrated cultural complex, including libraries, museums, exhibition areas, educational centres and an international conference centre.

During the Renaissance the book trade began to grow as both the number of readers and the taste for reading increased. However books were expensive and few people could afford to buy all the books they wanted to read. Just because books were too expensive to buy did not mean that they must be too expensive to read. By the 18 th century French and British booksellers charged a small fee for reading books in their shops and rented them for reading at home. In London, coffee houses provided newspapers and magazines for their customers, as an essential complement to the beverages they served; the only difference with today’s coffee shops was that for those who didn’t want coffee, reading privileges were sold by the hour! In Paris and Vienna the cabinets de lecture offered those who paid a small entrance fee the opportunity to read newly published books as well as current periodicals.

Not everyone wanted to read in a coffee house and so circulating libraries began to provide the opportunity to read at home. Upper middle class people joined literary and philosophical societies, which circulated books to them. Lower-middle class readers formed book clubs that used pooled funds to purchase small collections. Some of these collections were maintained permanently, while others were sold once the books had been read by all the members, and new ones purchased with the proceeds. Whatever class they served, there collections emphasized serious reading. In Whistler today there are many book clubs which operate much the same way as those of the past.

The earliest libraries in Canada consisted of private collections belonging to immigrants from Europe. Most public libraries that existed in the early decades of the 19 th century were supported by subscription fees and served only a small minority of the population, as most people could not read. They served scholars, priests, and the aristocracy. The first free tax-supported libraries date from 1883 at Saint John, Guelph and Toronto. Today Canadian public libraries are governed by provincial statutes and financed by local tax revenues, with provincial grants supplementing local funding. Public libraries are normally the responsibility of a local library board with either appointed or elected trustees. In Whistler, the library became a municipal public library in 1999 with trustees appointed by mayor and council.

Boston was the first American city to decide that a public library was an essential aspect of modern urban life, one that should be established and maintained by the municipal government. In those days the library contained a range of materials combining recreational reading and self-help materials. Fiction was the most popular category. (James Fennimore Cooper was one of the most popular writers.) Among non-fiction books, the most frequently borrowed were those on history, biography and travel. Library users included professional men, artisans, clerks, salesmen, bartenders, lumberjacks and washerwomen. With few other educational opportunities available to them, women were among the most enthusiastic users of public libraries. In 1869, 46 per cent of the Boston Public Library’s 110,00 users were women.

Looking at the usage at the Whistler Public Library it would appear that little has changed since those days in Boston. Fiction is still a very popular part of the collection, as are travel and self-help guides. People of all walks of life and of all ages use the library six days a week and borrow more than 114,000 items per year.