Public library
182010
225906709
2008-07-15T23:23:15Z
JohnRussell
450266
/* Services offered */
{{globalize|date=April 2007}}
[[Image:Carnegie lib interior.jpg|thumb|220px|Librarians and patrons in a typical larger urban public library.]]
A '''public library''' (also called '''circulating library''') is a [[library]] which is accessible by the [[public]] and is generally funded from public sources (such as [[tax]] monies) and may be operated by [[Civil service|civil servant]]s. Taxing bodies for public libraries may be at the [[municipal]], [[district]] covering several municipalities, [[county]], [[state]], or [[central government|federal]] level.
Public libraries exist in most nations of the world and are often considered an essential part of having an educated and literate population. Public libraries are distinct from [[research library|research libraries]], [[school library|school libraries]], or other [[Special Libraries Association|special libraries]] in that their mandate is to serve the public's information needs generally (rather than serve a particular school, institution, or research population). Public libraries typically are [[lending library|lending libraries]], allowing users to take books and other materials off the premises; they also have non-circulating [[reference]] collections. Public libraries typically focus on popular materials such as popular [[fiction]] and [[movies]], as well as educational and [[nonfiction]] materials of interest to the general public; [[Internet]] access is also often offered.
==Services offered==
In addition to print [[book]]s and [[periodical]]s, most public libraries today have a wide array of other media including music [[compact disc|CD]]s, computer [[software]], movies on [[Video Home System|video tape]], and [[DVD]], as well as facilities to access the [[Internet]] and inter-library reservations. Some public libraries use outside services, such as [[OverDrive, Inc.]] or [[OCLC]]'s NetLibrary, to provide patrons with downloadable [[eBooks]], [[audiobooks]], music, and video. [[Readers advisory]] is a fundamental public library service that involves suggesting fiction and nonfiction titles (often called "readalikes"). Public libraries may also provide other services, such as community meeting rooms, storytelling for infants, toddlers, and children, or after-school programs. In person and on-line programs for homework help, language learning and other community service programs are common offerings. One of the most popular programs offered in public libraries are summer reading programs for children, families, and adults. In rural areas, the local public library may have, in addition to its main branch, a [[bookmobile|mobile library]] service, consisting of one or more buses furnished as a small public library, serving the countryside according to a regular schedule.
Public libraries also provide materials for children that include books, videos and DVDs, music CDs, and other materials (both fiction and nonfiction), often housed in a special section. Child oriented [[websites]] with on-line educational games and programs specifically designed for younger library users are becoming increasingly common. Public libraries may also provide services for other particular groups, such as [[large print]] or [[Braille]] materials, [[young adult literature]] and other materials for teenagers, or materials in other than the national language.
[[Librarian]]s at most public libraries provide reference and research help to the general public, usually at a [[reference desk]] but can often be done by telephone interview. As [[online discussion]] and [[social networking]] allow for remote access, reference is becoming available virtually through the use of the [[Internet]] and [[e-mail]]. Depending on the size of the library, there may be more than one desk; at some smaller libraries all transactions may occur at one desk, while large urban public libraries may employ subject-specialist librarians with the ability to staff multiple reference or information desks to answer queries about particular topics at any time of the day or night. Often the children's section in a public library has its own reference desk.
Public libraries in some countries pay authors when their books are borrowed from libraries. These are known as [[Public Lending Right]] programs.
==Origins of the public library as a social institution==
The culmination of centuries of advances in the [[printing press]], [[cast-iron]] type, paper, ink, [[publishing]], and [[distribution]], combined with an ever growing [[middle-class]], increased commercial activity and consumption, new radical ideas, massive population growth and higher literacy rates forged the [[public library]] into the form that it is today. Public libraries are not a new idea, [[Romans]] made [[scrolls]] in dry rooms available to patrons of the baths, and tried with some success to establish libraries within the empire. Naturally only those few that could afford an education would be able to use the library, where those less than rich or without control of money, women, children and [[slaves]] of course could not. In the middle of the nineteenth century the push for truly public libraries, paid by taxes and run by the state gained force in after numerous depressions, droughts, wars and revolutions in [[Europe]], felt mostly by the working class. Matthew Battles states that:
<blockquote>"It was in these years of class conflict and economic terror that the public library movement swept through Britian, as the nation’s progressive elite recognized that the light of cultural and intellectual energy was lacking in the lives of commoners" <ref name=Battles>Matthew. Library: An Unquiet History. New York, N.Y.: Norton, 2004, p. 135.</ref>. </blockquote>
Libraries had often been started with a donation, an endowment or were bequeathed to various, parishes, churches, schools or towns, and these social and institutional libraries formed the base of many academic and public library collections of today. [[Andrew Carnegie]] was the single biggest ‘mover’ in financing libraries in the [[United States of America]], from the east to west coast. From just 1900 to 1917, almost 1,700 libraries were constructed by Carnegie’s foundation, insisting that local communities first guarantee tax support of each library built<ref name=Katz>Bill, Katz. Dahl’s History Of The Book, No. 2. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1995, p. 238.</ref>.
The establishment of circulating libraries by booksellers and publishers provided a means of gaining profit and creating social centers within the community. The circulating libraries not only provided a place to sell books, but also a place to lend books for a price. These circulating libraries provided a variety of materials including the increasingly popular novels. Although the circulating libraries filled an important role in society, members of the middle and upper classes often looked down upon these libraries that regularly sold material from their collections and provided materials that were less sophisticated. Circulating libraries also charged a subscription fee, however the fees were set to entice their patrons, providing subscriptions on a yearly, quarterly or monthly basis, without expecting the subscribers to purchase a share in the circulating library <ref name=Eliot>Ibid.</ref>.
Circulating libraries were not exclusively lending institutions and often provided a place for other forms of commercial activity, which may or may not be related to print. This was necessary because the circulating libraries did not generate enough funds through subscription fees collected from its borrowers. As a commerce venture, it was important to consider the contributing factors such as other goods or services available to the subscribers<ref name=Raven>Raven, James. "Libraries for sociability: the advance of subscription library." The Cambridge History Of Libraries In Britain And Ireland. 3 vols. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 251-253.</ref>.
Many claims have been made for the title of "first public library" for various libraries in various countries, with at least some of the confusion arising from differing interpretations of what should be considered a true "public library". Difficulties in establishing what policies were in effect at different times in the history of particular libraries also add to the confusion.
The first libraries open to the public were the collections of Greek and Latin [[scroll]]s which were available in the dry sections of the many buildings that made up the huge [[Roman bath]]s of the [[Roman empire]]. However, they were not lending libraries.
The "halls of science" run by different Islamic sects in many cities of North Africa and the Middle East in the 9th century were open to the public. Some of them had written lending policies, but they were very restrictive. Most patrons were expected to consult the books ''in situ''.
The later European university libraries were not open to the general public, but accessible by scholars.
A selection of significant claims made for early libraries operating in a way at least partly analogous to the modern public library is listed below by country, then by date.
<!-- will be finished later this day ===Bavaria===
[[Bavarian State Library]] founded in 1558 by [[Albert V, Duke of Bavaria|Albert V]]
===Italy===
In 1574 -->
<!-- Note: As this is the English Wikipedia, the proper English form (Italy) is required. Italia should be used when referring to the region in the Italian language -->
===United Kingdom===
[[Image:Harrris Museum, Preston 1-Oct-07 232-0021.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[The Harris Museum|(Preston) Harris Library]]]]
In the early years of the seventeenth century many famous collegiate and town libraries — i.e., libraries under the guardianship of municipalities — were founded throughout the country. [[Norwich]] library established in 1608 (six years after [[Thomas Bodley]] founded the [[Bodleian Library]], which was open to the "whole republic of the learned", and 145 years before the foundation of the [[British Museum]]) is said to be the first provincial town library under municipal control, however, similar claims are made for the [[Francis Trigge Chained Library]] of [http://www2.granthamtoday.co.uk/sites/history/gh_wulf.html St. Wulfram's Church], [[Grantham]], [[Lincolnshire]] which is said to pre-date Norwich library by ten years, being founded in 1598 by the rector of nearby Welbourne.
[[Image:Manchester Central Library.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Manchester Central Library]]]]
Other early town libraries of the UK include those of [[Ipswich]] (1612), [[Bristol]] (founded in 1613 and opened in 1615), and [[Leicester]] (1632). Shrewsbury School also opened its library to townsfolk.<ref>Anthony Hobson, "Open Shelves", ''TLS'', 8 December 2006, 9.</ref>
Other antecedents are claimed: In Bristol, an early public library was that of the Kalendars or Kalendaries, a brotherhood of clergy and laity who were attached to the Church of All-Hallowen or All Saints. Records show that in 1464, provision was made for a library to be erected in the house of the Kalendars, and reference is made to a deed of that date by which it was "appointed that all who wish to enter for the sake of instruction shall have ‘free access and recess’ at certain times".
Although by the mid-nineteenth century, England could claim 274 [[subscription library|subscription libraries]] and Scotland, 266, the foundation of the modern public library system in the UK is the [[Public Libraries Act 1850]]. Prior to this, the municipalities of [[Warrington]] and [[Salford]] established libraries in their museums, under the terms of the [[Museums Act of 1845]]. Manchester was the first library to operate a ''free''lending library without subscription in 1852 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2238494.stm]. [[Norwich]] lays claims to being the first municipality to adopt the Public Libraries Act 1850 (which allowed any municipal borough of 100,000 souls to introduce a halfpenny rate to establish public libraries - although not to buy books), but theirs was the eleventh library to open, in 1857, being the eleventh in the country after [[Winchester]], [[Manchester]], [[Liverpool]], [[Bolton]], [[Kidderminster]], [[Cambridge]], [[Birkenhead]] and [[Sheffield]]. The Scottish-American philanthropist and businessman, [[Andrew Carnegie]], helped to increase the number of public libraries from the late-nineteenth century.
===United States===
[[Image:USA Massachusetts Boston Public-Library.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Bates Hall reading room in the [[Boston Public Library]]]]
[[Image:Altona Library Hall.jpg|right|thumb|180px|A public library building in [[Altona, Illinois]], a small village in the Midwestern United States.]]
*In his unconventional history ''The Tribes and the States'', [[William James Sidis]] claims the public library is an American invention and states that the first town library was established in [[Boston, Massachusetts]] in 1636. The [[Boston Public Library]] still operates today.[http://www.bpl.org/] For an extended analysis of the origin of the U.S. public library see "Brahmins, BeQuests and Determined Women" in ''Introduction to Public Librarianship'', [[Kathleen de la Peña McCook]].
*The St. Phillips Church Parsonage Provincial Library, established in 1698 in [[Charleston, South Carolina]].
*The Library Company of Philadelphia was founded in 1731 by [[Benjamin Franklin]] and a group of his friends (the Junto) as a means to settle arguments. The subscription library was born. A subscription library allowed individuals to buy "shares." The money raised from the sale of shares went into buying more books. A member or shareholder then had rights to use the library. The [[Library Company of Philadelphia|Library Company]], which may have been the first truly public library (members could actually borrow books), is still in existence as a nonprofit, independent research library. [http://www.librarycompany.org]
*The [[Franklin, Massachusetts]] public library was begun with books donated by Benjamin Franklin after the town became the first named in his honor.[http://www.franklin.ma.us/auto/town/library/centceleb/default.htm]
*[[Scoville library|Scoville Memorial Library]] in [[Salisbury, Connecticut]], the first free public library in the United States, was established in 1803. [http://www.scovillelibrary.org]
*The first publicly-funded library opened in 1833 in [[Peterborough, New Hampshire]]. [http://www.bartleby.com/65/li/library.html]
*The first free public children's library was opened in 1835 in [[Arlington, MA]] [http://www.robbinslibrary.org/about/history]
*The [[New York Public Library]] in [[Education in New York City|New York City]], begun in 1849 and consolidated in 1901, one of the most important public libraries in the United States [http://www.nypl.org/pr/history.cfm]- [[Samuel J. Tilden]] - Governor NY 1875 - Presidential Candidate 1876, was a lover of books. Tilden bequeathed his millions to construct the NY Public Library. He believed Americans should have access to books and a free education if they so desired.
* The [[Williams Free Library]] became the first library in the United States to use open stacks when it opened in 1884.
* Scottish-American businessman [[Andrew Carnegie]] donated the money for the building of thousands of [[Carnegie library|Carnegie libraries]] in English-speaking countries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
* The [http://www.baconfreelibrary.org/ Bacon Free Library] in South Natick, Massachusetts was begun in 1881 with $15,000 from the will of Oliver Bacon. It has been operating as a public library ever since.
===Poland===
In 1747, construction began on one of Poland's first, at the time one of the world's best [http://www.fyifrance.com/f102005c.htm], national public libraries named the [[Załuski Library]] in [[Warsaw]]. In 1794, the library was looted on orders from [[Catherine II of Russia]]. Much of the material was returned in the period of 1842-1920, but once again the library was decimated during [[World War II]] during the period following the [[Warsaw Uprising]]. The [[Załuski Library]] was succeeded by the creation of the [[National Library of Poland]] (''Biblioteka Narodowa'') in 1928.
===Canada===
The Quebec Library, founded in [[Quebec City]] in 1779 by Governor [[Frederick Haldimand]], was the first publicly-funded library in the country. It later merged with the [[Literary and Historical Society of Quebec]], which displays the original Quebec Library collection within its library.
===Australia===
Library services in Australia developed along very different paths in the different States, as such it is hard to define the origins of the Public Library system in Australia. In 1809 the Reverend [[Samuel Marsden]] advertised in England for donations to help found a 'Lending Library for the general benefit of the inhabitants of New South Wales'. The library would cover 'Divinity and Morals, History, Voyages and Travels, Agriculture in all its branches, Mineralogy and Practical Mechanics'. No Public Library came to fruition from this although some of the books brought to the colony after this call survive in the library of [[Moore Theological College]].
The place of Public Libraries was filled by; mechanics' institutes, schools of arts, athenaeums and literary institutes. Some of which provided free library services to visitors, however lending rights were available only to members who were required to pay a subscription.
In 1856, the Victorian colonial government opened the Melbourne Public Library (now the [[State Library of Victoria]]). This was however purely a reference library.
In September 1869, the New South Wales government opened as the Free Public Library, Sydney (Now the [[State Library of New South Wales]]) by purchasing a bankrupt subscription library.
In 1896, the Brisbane Public Library was established. The Library's collection, purchased by the Queensland Government from the private collection of Mr Justice Harding.
In 1932, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, funded a survey (The Munn-Pitt Report) into Australian libraries. It found 'wretched little institutes' which were 'cemeteries of old and forgotten books'. There was also criticism of the limited public access, poor staff training, unsatisfactory collections, lack of non-fiction, absence of catalogues and poor levels of service for children. Lending libraries in Sydney (NSW) and Prahran (Victoria) were praised as examples of services which were doing well, but these were seen as exceptions.
In NSW, The Free Library Movement was set up on the back of the Munn-Pitt Report. This collection of (amongst others) concerned citizens, progress associations, Returned Servicemen and trade Unions advocated for a system of Public Libraries to serve the needs of all people. This movement was stalled by the declaration of war in 1939.
The passing of Library Acts in the states at the end of the war marked the beginning of modern public libraries in Australia.
In 1943, the [[Parliament of Queensland|Queensland Parliament]] passed the Libraries Act, establishing the Library Board of Queensland to manage the operations of the [[State Library of Queensland|Public Library of Queensland]], and coordinate and improve library facilities throughout the State of Queensland.
In November 1943, at the official opening of the new Public Library of New South Wales building, William McKell, the New South Wales Premier, announced that the Library Act would be fully proclaimed from 1 January 1944.
Even after the war, the development of free lending libraries in Australia had been agonizingly slow: it was not until the 1960s that local governments began to establish public libraries in suburban areas.
==Funding problems==
In the [[United States]], among other countries, libraries in financially-strapped communities compete with other public institutions such as [[police]], [[firefighter]]s, and [[school]]s.
Many communities are closing down or reducing the capability of their library systems, at the same time balancing their budgets. [[Jackson County, Oregon]] (US), closed its entire 15-branch library system for six months in 2007, reopening with a reduced schedule. This example of a funding problem followed the failure to pass of a [[bond measure]] and cessation of federal funding for counties with dwindling timber revenue, in a state with no [[sales tax]].<ref>http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2007/0408/local/stories/nowwhatlibraries.htm</ref><ref>http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/NEWS/710160335</ref> In December 2004, [[Salinas, California]] almost became the first city in the United States to completely close down its entire library system. A tax increase passed by the voters in November 2005 allowed the libraries to open, but hours remain limited.<ref>[http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/selectedarticles/referenda2005.htm "Referenda Roundup, 2005"] American Library Association, 2005. (Accessed 10 July, 2006). </ref>The [[American Library Association]] says media reports it has compiled in 2004 showed some $162 million in funding cuts to libraries nationwide.<ref> [http://www.ala.org/libraryfunding "Library Funding"] American Library Association, 2004. (Accessed 10 July, 2006)</ref>.
Survey data suggests the public values free public libraries. A [[Public Agenda]] survey in 2006 reported 84 percent of the public said maintaining free library services should be a top priority for their local library. But the survey also found the public was mostly unaware of financial difficulties facing their libraries. The survey did not ask those surveyed whether they valued free library services more than other specific services, such as firefighting.<ref> [http://www.publicagenda.org/research/research_reports_details.cfm?list=99 "Long Overdue: A Fresh Look at Public Attitudes About Libraries in the 21st Century"] Public Agenda, 2006. (Accessed 10 July, 2006).</ref>
In various cost-benefit studies libraries continue to provide an exceptional return on the dollar. <ref>Holt, Glen. Measuring Outcomes:Applying Cost-Benefit Analysis to Middle-Sized and Smaller Public Libraries. Library Trends; Winter2003, Vol. 51 Issue 3, p424, 17p</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Library science]]
* [[Librarian]]
* [[Public space]]
* [[List of libraries]]
==References==
<references/>
==External links==
*[http://www.libraryreference.com/format.html Format Proliferation in Public Libraries]
*[http://www.ericdigests.org/2005-2/libraries.html Stimulating Growth and Renewal of Public Libraries: The Natural Life Cycle as Framework]
*[http://www.uncoverthenet.com/articles/listing/9305.php Security Issues in Ohio Public Libraries]
*[http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpublibrary.html "How did public libraries get started?"] from ''[[The Straight Dope]]''
*[http://www.cas.usf.edu/lis/mccook/publiclibraries.htm Seminar in Public Libraries]
*[http://www.ala.org/al_onlineTemplate.cfm?Section=selectedarticles&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=2948 "Go Ahead, Name Them: America's Best Public Libraries"] from the [http://www.ala.org/ American Library Association]
*[http://www.haplr-index.com Hennen's American Public Library Ratings]
*[http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/History.PublicLibs Public libraries in the United States of America; their history, condition, and management. Special report, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education] (1876)
[[Category:Types of library]]
[[Category:Public libraries| ]]
[[Category:Book promotion]]
[[da:Folkebibliotek]]
[[de:Öffentliche Bibliothek]]
[[es:Biblioteca pública]]
[[eu:Liburutegi publiko]]
[[fr:Bibliothèque publique]]
[[he:ספרייה ציבורית]]
[[nl:Openbare bibliotheek]]
[[ja:公共図書館]]
[[no:Folkebibliotek]]
[[pt:Biblioteca pública]]
[[sv:Bibliotek#Folkbibliotek]]
[[zh:公共圖書館]]