Pre-American Libraries

Libraries have been around since many of the earliest civilizations. They seem to be in evidence in most cultures for since the inception of the written word. In many cases, they were just compiled of government documents, philosophical tracts, medical guides, and copies of whatever form of literature was in evidence. Many ancient libraries were intended for use by all the literate population. They were accessible, under limitations imposed as appropriate.  Medieval libraries were more than mere storehouses of books. Often, monasteries would loan books to each other as well as to some select individuals, when it was deemed appropriate.

It was not until the Renaissance and the Reformation that libraries became common outside of government or religious orders. Even then, though, collections were preserved primarily for the educated. Most major libraries would be what we consider research libraries today. They would be connected to major centers of learning such as colleges and universities.

The Colonial Period

Libraries have always been crucial to American society since its inception. The first known library collection arrived in what would eventually be the United States in 1629 at the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was brought along as cargo with a group of newly arriving immigrants to settle the New World with the idea that the books would be commonly shared among the community.

Besides being a sign of individual wealth, since only those with a great deal of money could afford to build personal collections of books in their homes, library collections were also a sign of education. As a result, unlike modern America, books were primarily held in personal collections within the homes.

Access to books in the colonies was limited to those provided by the wealthy. Boston was the home of one of the first collections of books owned by a municipality. The collection resulted from a donation of four books by Robert Keayne upon his death in 1656. The books, which were expositions on the Bible by Keayne, were meant to be stored in a room in the local town house.  The collection grew slowly as a few people followed suit with such a donation until 1674, when the Reverend John Oxenbridge of Cambridge bequeathed several books to the collection.

What is interesting is that Keayne’s will not only turned over books to the municipality, but it also dictated conditions that would define an amount of funds to be provided for a library to maintain it.  Such funds were used between 1670 and 1672 to purchase books to increase the collection. Unfortunately, the library seemed to fall into neglect sometime before 1686. It was not until 1695 that the selectmen of the town decided to place more interest in the library. By 1702, they had hired someone to catalog and organize the collection.

While the town house experienced a fire in 1711, damaging some of the collection, Boston’s leaders decided to support the continued growth of the collection. A “common stock” library was formed based largely on a plan defined by Benjamin Franklin in 1731 one as described below. Unfortunately, another fire in 1747 destroyed all but one of the volumes. That book, A Testimony from the Scripture against Idolatry & Superstition; can be found at the Boston Atheneum.

In New Haven, a library was started as the result of bequest similar to the one made by Keayne. Upon his death, Nathaniel Riley of London provided for 100 pounds to be turned over to the municipality for some unspecified project. Theophilus Eaton was provided with the task of designated the funds and built a collection of books with a good portion of them. Unfortunately, he maintained personal ownership of the collection until his death in 1658. It was then turned over to the community. In 1670, the collection was housed in the local schoolhouse, when it likely became available for public use. The collection was sold in 1689 for 40 pounds of rye and 32 bushels of Indian corn, which amounted to about 12 pounds, 18 shillings.

One of the primary reasons for the small number of public libraries during the colonial period was the limited number of publishers in the colonies. As of 1723, New York City had only one printer and Philadelphia had only two. According to Benjamin Franklin the two in Philadelphia were of limited capability because of the limited knowledge of their owners. 

Over the next six years, Franklin would establish himself as a printer. In the process he would also become involved with a debating society called The Junto, an organization that would eventually grow into the American Philosophical Society and the primary reason for the establishment of the Philadelphia Library. Franklin once referred to this library as “the mother of all the North American subscription libraries.  Here is an account of that founding:

The first books were received from London in 1732 and were held in the home of Robert Grace, a friend of Franklin and one of the founding members of the society. What made this project unique was that the library was created, maintained, and administered by those who would profit from its existence. In essence, it was designed for self-education of a practical nature, which is something libraries continue to view as a goal in their roles as life-long learning centers.

Franklin made an important first step with this creation, but his intentions were to support apprentices and students rather than the general public. Regulations were adopted to govern the use of the books:

• Books were only to be leant to members of the company with the exception of John Logan, who is discussed below


• After 1733, the privilege of borrowing materials was made available to readers who were not members with a deposit equal to the value of the books taken and a rental fee of six pence per week for all Folios and Quartos and four pence per week for all other materials.

Over the years, the library continued to grow and was moved multiple times to spaces that were deemed more appropriate. By 1742, the library was officially incorporated and began to merge with other such collections of books because of its prosperity. These included the Union Library Company in 1769 and the Association Library Company in 1771. The resulting organization was called the Philadelphia Library Company. 

It was James Logan who proposed a unique aspect that is important to the modern American public library. Logan owned a personal library of more than 100 volumes made up classical Greek and Roman works as well as respected pieces of literature. He started plans to create a structure in Philadelphia that would become a public library and set aside funds for the maintenance of the structure and to pay a librarian to maintain the collection. While he died before such a structure was constructed, his widow and heir set aside a trust to carry out his wishes. What was unique about Logan’s plans was that the  created a library that would be opened for the public use of all the citizens of the city, allowing for the borrowing of materials under certain restrictions. This structure took on the form of the Loganian Library, which would have more than 1500 volumes maintained by James’ son William.  This collection was primarily used by scholars, but its merger with the Philadelphia library would further its access to all classes.

During the Revolutionary War, the Philadelphia Library survived fully intact, having been used by those from both sides of the conflict. Disaster plans were made as to what to do if the building was endangered, but they proved to be unnecessary.

While the Philadelphia Library set an important precedent, it is important to note that similar attempts were made elsewhere in the colonies with the founding of such libraries as the Redwood Library in Newport, Rhode Island (1747); the Winya Library in Georgetown, South Carolina (1753); the Providence Library in Providence, Rhode Island (1753); the New York Society Library (1754); the Union Library in Hatborough, Pennsylvania (1755); the Charleston Library Company, South Carolina (1755); the Charleston Library Company, South Carolina (1755); the Chester Library in Chester, Pennsylvania (1769); the Julian Library in Lancaster, Pensylvania (1770).

Such libraries continued to crop up throughout what would become the United States in connection with such learned society and colleges and universities, the full idea of a public library as we know it was not realized before the Revolutionary War. Books were still very difficult to get, and libraries provided access to them even if it was in fairly limited numbers. Estimates place the total number of books in American libraries in 1800 as being not more than 80,000 or about one volume for every seventy people.

The New American Nation

During the first half century after the American Revolution, libraries held an important place among the resources for culture of the people. Many communities across the young United States would form social libraries (subscription libraries requiring fees to use), reading rooms, or public/free libraries with the hopes of building collections for the general good. Many of today’s public libraries can date their establishment to such organizations and still operate as independent public libraries that are largely funded with municipal funds.

As a result of the varied sources of libraries, many communities would have two or more libraries operating at the same time. In New Haven, there was competition between the Mechanic Library Society of 1793 and the Social Library of 1807. In some cases, this continues into the modern day where in Rhode Island alone, there are multiple libraries or library systems in the communities of Burrillville, Cranston, Foster, Glocester, and Smithfield.

The Athenaeum Movement

The Boston Athenaeum was the first organization of its type in America. It was founded in 1805 to continue publication of a periodical, the Monthly Anthology and Boston Review. The athenaeum provided for a reading room, which would collect newspapers, journals, and other periodicals and provide space for discourse about various topics. The cost of membership in the athenaeum would be no more than that of a single daily newspaper. Such a library opened in 1807 and was popular enough to have more than 160 subscribers who wanted to use its collection of more than a thousand volumes of French, English, and American periodicals and papers.

The success of such an organization in Boston brought about so much attention that similar athenaeums were founded in other cities: Brunswick, Maine (1808); Salem, Massachusetts (1810); Providence, Rhode Island (1752); Portland (1818); Frankfort, Kentucky (1817); and Philadelphia. In some cases, these communities had existing athenaeums they were hoping to market using the model of Boston.

In 1828, the New York Athenaeum expanded upon what it provided in the form of materials, when it started to provide a series of lectures. While the series was short lived, it provided an example of what Athenaeums, and later libraries, could provide in the area of programming.

Public Libraries Come to the Fore

During the second quarter of the 19th century, the country found itself coming into a period of intellectual expansion. Much of this was due to the country’s feelings of Manifest Destiny as it started to stretch across the continent and its economic growth due to industrial and commercial success. Publishers were marketing a large number of pieces of literature in the form of poetry, novels, and serialized works in newspapers. Social groups were presenting public lectures for anyone interested, many of which took place in lecture halls, auditoria, athenaeums, and libraries. The numbers of colleges and universities exploded. In general, there was an interest in higher levels of education, and it seemed clear to many that there were not enough materials readily available to assist in meeting these new educational goals. 

Libraries seemed primed to fill that gap. One of the primary reasons for this is they seemed prepared to supplement what was already being provided in the public school systems. The materials collected by the libraries could be used by students to further their knowledge base, particularly if access to the materials was provided at no cost.

In some cases, local taxes were levied to support the maintenance and growth of libraries. Often, such taxes were levied before the municipalities were given permission to do so. For example, the town of Orange, Massachusetts approved the collection of $100 in 1846 to establish a town library. This was done five years before the enactment of the general law empowering such taxation by the state. Similarly in Castine, Maine, the local Social Library became the property of the town in 1827 and was supported by taxes even though the required statute was not enacted until 1854.

In 1849, New Hampshire was the first of the new states to enact a law authorizing towns to grant money to establish and maintain public libraries. The municipalities were given the right to decide what amount would be deemed appropriate for such an endeavor. Importantly, such libraries formed would be exempt from state taxation. 

Massachusetts had strict limits as to how much each municipality could tax its citizens to support local libraries when it first established a taxation law related to libraries in 1859, but these were loosened in 1866 to allow for the municipalities to level whatever was necessary. As a result of such strong community support, the state recorded hat there were 45 free public libraries with holdings totaling 201,706 volumes in 1869, which grew to 82 libraries with holdings of 564,479 volumes in 1872.  (US Commissioner, 451)

Such growth was evident in other states as the ability to tax for libraries was provided.  With that said, it is important to note that such taxation was only successful when there was a willingness by the voters and taxpayers to devote such funds. Generally, though, such projects were supported. In many cases such expenses were lessened through the donation of funds by local wealthy citizens.

What is interesting about many of these early libraries is how the operated, particularly in small communities. The books were often kept in the home of the librarian and were accessible on “Library Day,” which was held weekly, monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, or at other specified times.

(Shera, 68)

Formalizing the Profession

Librarianship, which had come about by happen stance, started to display the attributes of a profession at this time. According to the New York Library Mercantile Library Association in 1852, “A librarian requires a distinct education upon the prominent parts of his profession – an education that can only be acquired by years of preparation and study.” (Thompson, 190) Unfortunately, there were few competent librarians available, and there was no organization to formalize cooperation and training.

Charles B. Norton was crucial to the start of such a movement for a professional organization. In 1851, he started publishing Norton’s Literary Advertiser, which proved to be a forerunner of Publishers’ Weekly and, less directly, Library Journal. Norton worked with S. Hasting Grant, librarian of the New York Mercantile Library closely on the publication. The two also worked closely on trying to arrange a convention for librarians. They finally settled on holding it in New York in September of 1853.

Charles C. Jewett was crucial to this first convention. He had previously been a librarian at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, before being appointed as the librarian of the Smithsonian Institution. Norton contacted Jewett in late April, bringing him into the convention project. Jewett than drafted a formal call for attendees, promising that he would be in attendance.

Eighty-two men registered for the conference. Fifty-eight of them from 12 states and the District of Columbia, were representatives from libraries or other educational institutions. Jewett was appointed as President of the forth coming professional organization with Norton serving as Secretary.  Plans were made to meet again in the summer of 1854, but a second conference did not actually take place.

During the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, 103 librarians (90 men and 13 women) responded to a call for a "Convention of Librarians" to be held that October at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. It was here that the American Library Association was born at the opening session on October 4. Among those in attendance were Justin Winsor of the Boston Public Library and Harvard University, William Frederick Poole of the Chicago Public and Newberry Libraries, Charles Ammi Cutter of the Boston Athenaeum, Melvil Dewey, and Richard Rogers Bowker. Attendees came from as far west as Chicago and from England.  The convention resulted in a resolution "to enable librarians to do their present work more easily and at less expense." (ALA)

The preamble of the association’s constitution indicated the group was designed:

The association’s first slate of officers included Justin Winsor as President; Ainsworth S. Spofford, William F. Poole, and Henry A. Homes as Vice Presidents; and Melvil Dewey as Secretary and Treasurer.

The Importance of Melvil Dewey and the New Formal Profession

Melvil Dewey is arguably one of the most influential persons in the history of public libraries in the United States. He was just 25 years old at the birth of the American Library Association, and his influence would crucially effect the whole profession far beyond the classification system that has taken his name.

In 1876, cataloging and shelving materials was perhaps the most difficult challenge facing libraries. Most often, books were assigned placement upon shelves on the basis of the date the item was received. Dewey proposed a new method of classification based on the number 10: the Dewey Decimal System. This not only allowed for items to be clumped together on the basis of subject matter, but it also meant that there would be standardization for users as they moved from one library to the next. By 1927, 96% of public libraries in the United States had adopted this system of classification.

He was among good company as he profession shifted toward the 20th century. Most of the library leaders were well educated. At a time when a small portion of the population was college-educated, 50% of public librarians had a college degree. Another 20% had partial training. Only 10% of the library leaders had not graduated from high school. Of those with college degrees, 61% of them had master’s degrees.

Advocating for Library Books

During the period between 1879 and 1900, librarians waged a hard campaign to promote supplementary reading into the classroom. They reached out to teachers and school administrators, particularly those in larger cities, in order to highlight the value of bringing library books to school. Emphasis was placed on reading complete works rather than just excerpts.  In order to assist in this new approach, librarians worked on reading lists that tied in with grade levels that educators and parents could use to assist in the selection of materials.  There was an emphasis on high quality titles such as the classics rather than focusing on a pleasure of reading.

Much of this drive was necessitated by the fact that schools seemed unable to fully implement the idea of school libraries for their students. Since public libraries had to serve in that capacity, they needed to be brought into the educational design process, particularly since public education was currently under a major reform.

Samuel Green of the Worcester Public Library was one of the most influential librarians to participate in this type of reform. In 1872, a year after his appointment, the Worcester Public Library became the first in the nation to offer Sunday hours to allow easier access for those who worked and students. This was followed in 1879, with the support of the city superintendent and the school committee, by the start of regular visits by Green to the area school in order to introduce library materials to the classroom.

Green also instituted a radical change with library cards during his visits. He began to offer teachers two library cards: one was the traditional one for personal use, and the other allowed the teacher to take out 6 books for use specifically by students within the classroom. This drive was so successful that 119 of 200 teachers opted to get the first card, and 77 of those obtained the special teacher’s card. These programs led to a big increase in the use of library materials within the schools. Three years later, 550 books were used in the schools each day. Between February and June of 1881, 700 books per day were being used by the students of the Worcester Public Schools. This type of coordination was duplicated all across the country.

Libraries at the Turn of the Century

By the year 1900, there were about 2,000 libraries in the United States, and that number would jump to more than 6,000 by the end of World War I. Of 137 cities in the United States, 80% had public libraries by 1900, and the other remaining would have them by 1920. This major growth is due in a large part for a desire by Americans as a whole to increase their level of education. The fact that libraries provided this as a free service made them a wonderful research. Americans could find high level educational materials to use in self-education or interesting pulp fiction to keep themselves entertained.

In fact, one of the major concerns at the turn of the century was the idea of the quality of popular fiction and possible immoral undertones that were evident in these titles. While mild by modern examples, the Victorian/Edwardian ethos was still evident in society. Quality reading was considered important, but an elitist outlook looked down on pulp fiction because it might corrupt society. These concerns were pushed aside well before the arrival of World War I.

This was also the time of Andrew Carnegie. As mentioned earlier in this section, there was no shortage of new libraries being built across the country. Thanks to Carnegie’s success with the Carnegie Steel Company, he was able to give away $310 million, some of which was used to construct 1,679 libraries. He believed in the concept of noblesse oblige, the concept that those with wealth should be willing to assist those without it. He saw the public library as an agency that would allow others to duplicate his success.

There were two essential requirements for a community to receive one of Carnegie’s grants. The community had to commit to provide at least 10% of the grant for annual maintenance, which was a commitment from municipal officials rather than from only the librarian or library board. After 1908, plans for proposed structures needed to be submitted for review, which led to a common appearance to many of the “Carnegie libraries,” as they are often referred to even today.

It was also at this time, that public libraries made the final leap to fully open up the stacks. Closed stacks requiring librarians to get materials upon the request of a patron was still quite common in larger libraries across the country even as late as 1900.

Many librarians started this opening up process by making certain books readily available. This applied at first to standard reference books. The openness spread slowly to other categories. Of interesting note, fiction was the area in which restrictions lasted the longest because of concerns about immoral passages. Those restricted included some of the classics and even some children’s books, since it was feared that youngsters would misuse them.

The Cleveland Public Library broke with this tradition in 1890 and was followed in 1895 by the Free Library of Philadelphia. The trend spread from there. The Enoch Pratt Free Library in Maryland was one of the last to open its stacks in the 1920’s.

After the Great War

Libraries made a major shift in the 1920s. Rather than focusing on the collection and preservation, they began to focus more on the needs of their users and providing services to encourage use. It is at this time that reference services started to become offered to the American public. Special collections and programs for children were eagerly received by young patrons and their parents. Young adults also became highlighted in the 1920s, though it would have a checkered history before really taking hold in the 1990s.

William Foster of the Providence Public Library in Rhode Island is given credit for being one of the first to establish and information desk, which was later duplicated by Samuel Swettt Green at the Worcester Public Library in Massachusetts. While these were initially called  reference desks, many in the public were confused by the jargon so these desks later came to be known by the more straightforward label of information desks. Readers Advisory also became a major service provided by libraries at this time.

Professional training became more of a requirement for librarians. This took on the form of both professional school, of which there were only 6 in the 1920s, and programs offered by larger libraries for those who wanted to further what they had already been learning on the job.

The 1920s saw the foundation of formal library education largely as a result of a report produced in 1923 by Charles Williamson, a social scientist turned librarian. This report was largely funded by a Carnegie grant. Williamson recommended a full subject education prior to going to graduate school for professional education. This led to the creation of a graduate school at Columbia University based largely on his recommendations. 

The Carnegie Corporation took this a step forward by funding the creation of the Graduate Library School at the University of Chicago, which was the first of its kind. The school only admitted graduates of first-year library schools and awarded a Ph.D. degree. Louis R. Wilson, who had been the Director of the library at the University of North Carolina, assembled a research minded faculty. This program created many of the foundations of study present to this day in library school programs across the country.

Libraries themselves began to continue to improve service by specializing staff into subject areas such as children’s services, the arts, the humanities, and others. Such improvements continued as states instituted standards for library service, largely based upon ALA suggestions and created state library agencies to coordinate services within their borders.

It was in 1956 that the federal government passed the first piece of legislation to support public libraries. The Library Services Act, which continues today in the form of the Library Services and Technology Act, was aimed directly at rural service. It called for state control of funds, and states were to submit plans to eh US Office of Education for approval. It was a little slow to get fully funded. The Act promised $7.5 million per year, but only $2 million was appropriated in the first year to be followed by $5 million in 1958, $6million in 1959 and the full amount by 1960 and 1961. This was initially meant to only run for five years.

President Kennedy was crucial in keeping the funding progressing, particularly in the form of the Library Services and Construction Act, which passed in early 1964. This act provided:

• Population limit of 10,000 removed from the earlier act, allowing aid to be applied to all libraries;


• Construction could now be included, which was timely as the Carnegie libraries were starting to need replacement;


• Strengthening of state library agencies; and


• Interlibrary cooperation was to be encouraged.

A total of $73 million was authorized to fulfill these goals.

In 1970, the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) was created, with membership to be composed of citizens and experts from mostly outside the ranks of librarians. The goal was to try and plan an effect and efficient library system for the future.

Regionalization became more common as the century shifted into the second half.  Rather than halving one or more libraries in each community, the goal was to share the work with the creation of library systems and networks. In some cases, this was accomplished on the community level, but it also spread to coordinate services within counties or even in some states.

Into the Future

Computers, the Internet, and Library 2.0 present both opportunities and challenges for libraries providing services to their communities. It is clear from looking at the history of public libraries, they have not remained static. They have adjusted to new demands, methods, and technologies to meet needs of the communities they serve.  Looking to the professional literature, it is clear that librarians are positioning themselves to continue to evolve as they take on the tools of blogs, wikis, and podcasting.

Public library services all started with a shared collection of books brought over from the homeland in 1629, and libraries continue to share information as a community resource in the form of shared books on their shelves to electronic formats that can be accessed from all over the globe in the blink of an eye.

Sources

American Library Association.  ALA History; https://wikis.ala.org/professionaltips/index.php/ALA_History. [accessed 8/2008]

Davies, D.W. Public Libraries as Culture and Social Centers: The Origin of the Concept; Scarecrow: Metuchen, N.J., 1974.

Ditzion, Sidney.  Arsenals of a Democratic Culture: A Social History of the American Public Library Movement in New England and the Middle States from 1850 to 1900; American Library Association: Chicago, 1947.

Garrison, Dee. Apostles of Culture: The Public Librarian and American Society, 1876-1920; The Free Press: New York, 1979.

Martin, Lowell A. Enrichment: A History of the Public Library in the United States in the Twentieth Century; Scarecrow Press: Lanham,Maryland, 1998.

Shera, Jesse H. Foundations of the Public Library: The Origins of the Public Library Movement in New England, 1629 – 1855; The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 1949.

Thompson, C. Seymour.  Evolution of the American Public Library, 1653 – 1876; Scarecrow Press: Washington, D.C., 1952.

US Commisioner of Education.  Public Libraries in the United States of America: Their History, Condition & Management; Rowman and Littlefield: Totowa, N.J.; 1876 [1971].