The Historical Context of the Library

In this library essay the historical context of libraries is discussed. The ideas underpinning the concept of the free public library as discussed in this research are relatively new ones, yet libraries are said to be as old as the written word and to have existed for almost as long as records have been kept. 

The existence of libraries can be traced to as early as 3000BCE, and libraries are known to have exist in some of the most famous early civilizations including those of ancient Egypt, Babylonia and Sumer. In these early libraries, however, no obvious distinction was made between a ‘record room’, an archive and a library. These early libraries and their collections were mostly associated with civil administration, religion and trade, and they were located in palaces and places of worship. According to Wayne, ‘many early libraries were located in temples where scribes recorded information that the governing class considered important, and preserved, classified and arranged it for future reference’. These early library collections included items such as myths, ritual proverbs, and hymns, manuals of botany, zoology and mineralogy, mathematics, business records, property ownership and medical remedies. 

Over time, additional documentation was added to these collections including historical documents and literary works, and these ‘record rooms’ became more like our current concept of a library. These early libraries were ‘exclusive institutions’, and examples include the library of Alexandria, which was built in the third century BCE and was in existence until its destruction in the seventh century CE. The founder, King Ptolemy I, built this royal library with the aim of collecting, editing and authenticating every written work of the Greeks and also to create a comprehensive research library for scholars and intellectuals. These early libraries were not public libraries in the sense we understand them today. Libraries, like the library of Alexandria, were built for the purpose of catering to royalty, the clergy, scholars, and other elite members of the community. Despite this, such libraries can be seen as symbols of the importance and power placed by communities on the organization, control and access to knowledge. 

These private and royal libraries laid the foundations for more contemporary ideas concerning the place of libraries in communities around the world today. The tradition of such ‘exclusive’ libraries was to continue in the Western world throughout the next centuries, however as early as 500 BCE a more contemporary idea of the public library began to emerge. In 500BCE, the ancient cities of Athens and Samos were among the earliest ancient cities of the Greek Empire to establish the ‘first government-sponsored library for the use of their local public and not just for the ruling elites’. Meanwhile in 440BCE, the Romans built libraries; according to Murray, ‘Roman public libraries were even placed in public baths, a token of the luxurious lifestyle of the empire’s wealthiest citizens who grew up with a love of books and literature’. Greek and Roman public libraries flourished hand in hand with many private elite and professional libraries, but because of the low literacy rate among the population these public libraries in reality served only a small number and a small part of the population and finally closed down. Murray states that the fall of the Roman Empire brought ‘a culture and intellectual darkness’ in the Western world and very few libraries were built in the centuries which followed. What remained of the great libraries fell victim to neglect and war. Libraries did not disappear altogether in the West, and with the spread of Christianity between 450CE and 1450CE, church and monastic libraries began to grow. These monastic libraries laid the foundation for the concept and organization of today’s contemporary libraries. In these religious establishments, Christian monks set up a textual copying system and began copying many classical and ancient manuscripts and church writings. These libraries also supported the building of schools serving local clergy and civil servants. 

Overall, as was the situation in the ancient world, however, these libraries were not open to the public and according to Murray, ‘borrowers were usually nobles or government officials or individuals who were benefactors of the monastery’ this was as close to a public library as a monastic library ever came in this era.