Editing Public library (section)

==History==
[[File:Thomas Bodley.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Thomas Bodley]] founded the [[Bodleian Library]] in 1602 as an early public library.]]
{{main|History of libraries}}

===Early history===
The first libraries consisted of [[archive]]s of the [[Writing#The beginning of writing|earliest form of writing]] – the [[clay tablet]]s in [[cuneiform script]] discovered in temple rooms in [[Sumer]],{{sfnp|Casson|2001|p=3}}<ref name=Krasner>{{cite web |url= http://www.history-magazine.com/libraries.html |title=Survivor: The History of the Library |first=Barbara |last= Krasner-Khait |work=History Magazine |year=2010 |access-date=5 March 2012}}</ref> some dating back to 2600 BC.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/05/06_tablet.shtml |title= Clay cuneiform tablets from ancient Mesopotamia to be placed online |first=Kathleen |last= Maclay |date=6 May 2003 |website=[[University of California, Berkeley]] |access-date=5 March 2012}}</ref> They appeared five thousand years ago in Southwest Asia's [[Fertile Crescent]], an area that ran from [[Mesopotamia]] to the Nile in Africa. Known as the cradle of civilization, the Fertile Crescent was likewise the birthplace of writing, sometime before 3000&nbsp;BC. (Murray, Stuart A.P.) These first libraries, which mainly consisted of the records of commercial transactions or inventories, mark the end of [[prehistory]] and the start of [[history]].<ref>Renfrew, Colin (2008) ''Prehistory The Making of the Human Mind'', New York: Modern Library.</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3QZXvUhGwhAC&pg=PA35 |title=A Short History of the World |first=John Morris|page=35 |last= Roberts |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1997 |access-date=7 March 2012|isbn=9780195115048 }}</ref>

Things were very similar in the government and temple records on [[papyrus]] of [[Ancient Egypt]].<ref name=Krasner/> The earliest discovered private archives were kept at [[Ugarit]]; besides correspondence and inventories, texts of myths may have been standardized practice-texts for teaching new scribes.

Persia at the time of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] (550–330&nbsp;BC) was home to some outstanding libraries that were serving two main functions: keeping the records of administrative documents (e.g., transactions, governmental orders, and budget allocation within and between the [[Satrapies]] and the central ruling State)<ref>Rajabi, Parviz. 1381. The lost Milleniums, Vol 3, Toos Publication, {{ISBN|964-315-573-0}}</ref> and collection of resources on different sets of principles e.g. medical science, astronomy, history, geometry and philosophy.

A public library<!-- said to be the first, at least in the West, but this conflicts with the statements about the Greek/Hellenistic world – unless it is not considered part of the West; or the Greek libraries might not count because "[u]nlike the Greek libraries, readers had direct access to the scrolls [of Roman libraries]" --> was established in Rome by the first century BC, in the [[Atrium Libertatis]] (see {{slink|History of libraries|Classical period}} and {{slink|Gaius Asinius Pollio|Later life}}).<!-- Was the [[Library of Alexandria]] a public library? Oddly, there does not seem to be any clear statement on this. But if it was one, it should be mentioned here as a predecessor. --> However, the first major public library is said to have been established in Athens by Pisistratus in the sixth century BC (see {{slink|Library of Alexandria|Historical background}}), and by the end of the [[Hellenistic period]], public libraries are said to have been widespread in the Eastern Mediterranean (see {{slink|Library of Alexandria|In antiquity}}).

Historian [[Yahya of Antioch]] (d. 1066) reported that the Fatimid Caliph [[Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah]] ({{reign | 996 | 1021}}) financed and established libraries open to the public, where anyone, even the simple non-specialists, could choose whatever books they wanted and have them copied by public scribes, free of charge.<ref name="ant">{{cite book |author1= Yahya ibn Said al-Antaki |author-link1= Yahya of Antioch |title= Kitāb taʼrih̲ d̲ayl (Continuation de la chronique d'Eutychius d'Alexandrie (Saʿid ibn Bitrīq) pour la période 938-1034) |date= 1066}}</ref> However, as with many of his other decisions, Al-Hakim later ordered this policy to be reversed.<ref name="ant"/>

In Cesena, Italy, the first community-run public library, the [[Biblioteca Malatestiana|Malatestiana Library]], was established in 1447, provided both secular and religious texts in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and was fully open to all members of the public.

Another early library that allowed access to the public was Kalendars or Kalendaries, a brotherhood of clergy and laity who were attached to the Church of All-Halloween or [[All Saints' Church, Bristol|All Saints]] in [[Bristol]], England. Records show that in 1464, provision was made for a library to be erected in the house of the Kalendars. A 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."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stephen|first1=G.A.|title=Three centuries of a city library: a historical and descriptive account of the Norwich Public Library established in 1608 and the present public library opened in 1837|url=https://archive.org/details/threecenturiesof00step|date=1917|publisher=Norwich: Public Library Committee}}</ref>

In 1598, Francis Trigge established a library in a room above St. Wulfram's Church in [[Grantham, Lincolnshire]] and decreed that it should be open to the clergy and residents of the surrounding neighborhood. Some scholars consider this library an "ancestor" to public libraries since its patrons did not need to belong to an existing organization like a church or college to use it. However, all the books in the library were chained to stalls and unavailable to borrow, hence its name: the Francis Trigge Chained Library.<ref>Murray, Stuart. The Library: an Illustrated History. Skyhorse Pub, 2009.</ref>
[[File:Milano - Pinacoteca Ambrosiana - 2024-09-20 18-44-45 001.jpg|thumb|The [[Biblioteca Ambrosiana]] in [[Milan]], founded in 1609 by Cardinal [[Federico Borromeo]]]]

In the early years of the 17th century, many famous collegiate and town libraries were founded in England. [[Norwich]] City library was established in 1608<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.norfolkrecordsociety.org.uk/reviews/LXXII.htm|title=Norwich City Library 1608 - 1737: The Minutes, Donation Book and Catalogue of Norwich City Library, Founded in 1608|last=Anon|work=Norfolk Record Society|access-date=18 November 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711070121/http://www.norfolkrecordsociety.org.uk/reviews/LXXII.htm|archive-date=11 July 2010}}</ref> (six years after [[Thomas Bodley]] founded the [[Bodleian Library]], which was open to the "whole republic of the learned") and [[Chetham's Library]] in Manchester, which claims to be the oldest public library in the English-speaking world, opened in 1653.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chethams.org.uk/|title=Welcome to Chetham's Library|last=Anon|work=Chetham's Library Home page|access-date=18 November 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090918201611/http://www.chethams.org.uk/|archive-date=18 September 2009}}</ref>
[[File:BIBLIOTECA PALAFOXIANA.tif|thumb|[[Biblioteca Palafoxiana]] in [[Puebla (city)|Puebla City]], Mexico (founded 1646)]]
[[Biblioteca Palafoxiana]] in [[Puebla (city)|Puebla City]], Mexico, is recognized by [[UNESCO]] for being the first public library in the [[Americas]]. It was founded in 1646 by [[Juan de Palafox y Mendoza]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Biblioteca Palafoxiana|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/mow/nomination_forms/mexico+palafoxiana.pdf|publisher=UNESCO|access-date=27 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Brescia|first=Michael M.|title=Liturgical Expressions of Episcopal Power: Juan de Palafox y Mendoza and Tridentine Reform in Colonial Mexico| journal=The Catholic Historical Review|date=July 2004| volume=90 |issue=3| pages=497–518| doi=10.1353/cat.2004.0116|jstor=25026636| s2cid=159841691}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Oxford Companion to the Book| year=2010| publisher=Oxford University Press|author=Sherman, William H.|chapter=Palafoxiana, Biblioteca|editor1=Suarez, Michael F. |editor2=Woudhuysen, H. R. }}</ref> 
In his seminal work {{Lang|fr|Advis pour dresser une bibliothèque}} (1644) the French scholar and librarian [[Gabriel Naudé]] asserted that only three libraries in all [[Europe]] granted in his times regular access to every scholar, namely the [[Biblioteca Ambrosiana]] in Milan, the {{Lang|it|[[Biblioteca Angelica]]|italic=no}} in Rome, and the [[Bodleian Library]] in Oxford.<ref>{{cite book|page=121|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p9F2DwAAQBAJ|author=[[Jonathan Irvine Israel]]|title=Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity, 1650-1750|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2001|isbn=9780198206088}}</ref>

===Enlightenment-era libraries===
[[Claude Sallier]], the French philologist and churchman, operated an early form of a public library in the town of [[Saulieu]] from 1737 to 1750. He wished to make culture and learning accessible to all people.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tastet |first=Tyrtée (1809-1865) Auteur du texte |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k31495f |title=Histoire des quarante fauteuils de l'Académie française depuis la fondation jusqu'à nos jours, 1635-1855. Tome 2, VI. Le fauteuil de Montesquieu - XV. Le fauteuil de Lally / par M. Tyrtée Tastet |date=1855 |language=EN}}</ref>

The [[Załuski Library]] ({{langx|pl|Biblioteka Załuskich}}, {{langx|la|Bibliotheca Zalusciana}}) was built in [[Warsaw]] 1747–1795 by [[Józef Andrzej Załuski]] and his brother, [[Andrzej Stanisław Załuski]], both Roman Catholic bishops. The library was open to the public and was the first Polish public library, the biggest in Poland, and one of the earliest public libraries in Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fyifrance.com/f102005c.htm |title=The Strange Life of One of the Greatest European Libraries of the Eighteenth Century: the Zaluski Collection in Warsaw |publisher=Fyifrance.com |access-date=27 March 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208031623/http://www.fyifrance.com/f102005c.htm |archive-date=8 February 2008 }}</ref>

At the start of the 18th century, libraries were becoming increasingly public and were more frequently [[Lending library|lending libraries]]. The 18th century saw the switch from closed parochial libraries to lending libraries. Before this time, public libraries were parochial in nature, and libraries frequently chained their books to desks.<ref>Kelly, Thomas (1966) ''Early Public Libraries: a history of public libraries in Great Britain before 1850'' London: Library Association; p. 94</ref> Libraries also were not uniformly open to the public. In 1790, The Public Library Act would not be passed for another sixty-seven years.<ref>Predeek, Albert (1947) ''A History of Libraries in Great Britain and North America''. Chicago: American Library Association; p. 58</ref>

[[File:The North Prospect of Mountague House JamesSimonc1715.jpg|thumb|The [[British Museum]] was established in 1751 and had a library containing over 50,000 books.]]
Even though the [[British Museum]] existed at this time and contained over 50,000 books, the national library was not open to the public or even to most of the population. Access to the museum depended on passes, for which there was sometimes a waiting period of three to four weeks. Moreover, the library was not open for browsing. Once a pass to the library had been issued, the reader was taken on a tour of the library. Many readers complained that the tour was much too short.<ref>Battles, Matthew (2003) ''Library: an unquiet history''; p. 121</ref> Similarly, the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France|Bibliothèque du Roi]] in Paris required a potential visitor to be "carefully screened" and, even after this stipulation was met, the library was open only two days per week and only to view medallions and engravings, not books.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The rise of the public in Enlightenment Europe|last=Melton|first=James Van Horn|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2001|isbn=9780511019074|location=Cambridge|pages=104–109|chapter=Reading publics: transformations of the literary public sphere}}</ref>

However, up until the mid-19th century, there were virtually no public libraries in the sense in which we now understand the term, i.e., libraries provided with public funds and freely accessible to all.<ref name="Kelly, Thomas 1966; p. 185">Kelly, Thomas (1966); p. 185</ref> Only one important library in Britain, namely [[Chetham's Library]] in Manchester, was fully and freely accessible to the public.<ref name="Kelly, Thomas 1966; p. 185"/> The [[Chesshyre Library]] in [[Halton, Runcorn|Halton]], [[Cheshire]] was founded as a free public library in 1733 for all "divines of the Church of England or other gentlemen or persons of letters", but it was limited to just 422 volumes of mostly [[ecclesiastical]] and legal works.<ref name="starkey">{{Citation | last =Starkey | first = H. F| year = 1990| title = Old Runcorn| pages = 77–81 | publisher = Halton Borough Council }}</ref> In Germany, there was another occurrence of an accessible public library. [[Herzog August Library|The Ducal Library at Wolfenbüttel]] was open "every weekday morning and afternoon" and loaned its books to the public. Between 1714 and 1799, the library loaned 31,485 books to 1,648 different users.<ref name=":0" /> These types of public libraries, much closer to the present-day concept of the public library, were extremely rare as most libraries remained difficult to access.

The increase in secular literature at this time encouraged the spread of lending libraries, especially commercial [[subscription libraries]]. Commercial [[subscription libraries]] began when booksellers began renting out extra copies of books in the mid-18th century. Steven Fischer estimates that in 1790, there were "about six hundred rental and lending libraries, with a clientele of some fifty thousand."<ref>Allan, David (2008) ''A Nation of Readers: the lending library in Georgian England''. London: British Library; p. 121</ref> The mid-to-late 18th century saw a wave of feminine reading as [[novel]]s became more and more popular.<ref>Irwin, Raymond (1964) ''The Heritage of the English Library''. London: George Allen & Unwin; p. 275</ref> Novels, while frowned upon in society, were extremely popular. In England, there were many who lamented at the "villainous profane and obscene books", and the opposition to the circulating library, on moral grounds, persisted well into the 19th century.<ref>Kelly, Thomas (1966); p. 147</ref> Still, many establishments must have circulated many times the number of novels as of any other genre.<ref>Kaufman, Paul (1969); p. 197</ref>

In 1797, Thomas Wilson wrote in ''The Use of Circulating Libraries'': "Consider that for a successful circulating library, the collection must contain 70% fiction". However, the overall percentage of novels mainly depended on the proprietor of the [[circulating library]]. While some circulating libraries were almost completely novels, others had less than 10% of their overall collection in the form of novels.<ref>Allan, David (2008); p. 138</ref> The national average start of the 20th century hovered around novels comprising about 20% of the total collection.<ref>Allan, David (2008); p. 135</ref> Novels varied from other types of books in many ways. They were read primarily for enjoyment instead of for study. They did not provide academic knowledge or spiritual guidance; thus, they were read quickly and far fewer times than other books. These were the perfect books for commercial subscription libraries to lend. Since books were read for pure enjoyment rather than for scholarly work, books needed to become both cheaper and smaller. Small duodecimo editions of books were preferred to the large [[Folio (printing)|folio]] editions. Folio editions were read at a desk, while the small [[duodecimo]] editions could be easily read like the paperbacks of today. The French journalist [[Louis-Sébastien Mercier]] wrote that the books were also separated into parts so that readers could rent a section of the book for some hours instead of a full day.<ref name=":0" /> This allowed more readers could have access to the same work at the same time, making it more profitable for the circulating libraries.

Much like paperbacks of today, many of the novels in circulating libraries were unbound. At this period of time, many people chose to bind their books in leather. Many circulating libraries skipped this process. Circulating libraries were not in the business of preserving books; their owners wanted to lend books as many times as they possibly could. Circulating libraries have ushered in a completely new way of reading. Reading was no longer simply an [[academia|academic pursuit]] or an attempt to gain [[spirituality|spiritual guidance]]. Reading became a social activity. Many circulating libraries were attached to the shops of milliners or drapers. They served as much for social gossip and the meeting of friends as [[Coffeehouse|coffee shops]] do today.<ref>Irwin, Raymond (1964) pp. 275-76</ref>

[[File:Vogel Załuski Library.jpg|thumb|[[Załuski Library|Biblioteka Załuskich]], built in [[Warsaw]] in the mid-18th century]]
Another factor in the growth of subscription libraries was the increasing cost of books. In the last two decades of the century, especially, prices were practically doubled, so that a quarto work cost a [[Guinea (British coin)|guinea]], an [[octavo]] 10 shillings or 12 shillings, and a duodecimo cost 4 [[shilling]]s per volume. Price apart, moreover, books were difficult to procure outside London since local booksellers could not afford to carry large stocks.<ref>Kelly, Thomas (1966); p. 121</ref> Commercial libraries, since they were usually associated with booksellers and also since they had a greater number of patrons, were able to accumulate greater numbers of books. The United Public Library was said to have a collection of some 52,000 volumes – twice as many as any private-subscription library in the country at that period.<ref>Kelly, Thomas (1966); p. 188</ref> These libraries, since they functioned as a business, also lent books to non-subscribers on a per-book system.<ref>Allan, David (2008); p. 132</ref>

Despite the existence of these subscription libraries, they were only accessible to those who could afford the fees and to those with time to read during the daylight. As stated by James Van Horn Melton, "one should not overstate the extent to which lending libraries 'democratized' reading" since "they were probably less important for creating new readers than for enabling those who already read to read more." For many people, these libraries, though more accessible than libraries such as the British Library, were still largely an institution for the middle and upper classes.<ref name=":0" />

=== India ===
In A.D 1820, the [[State Central Library, Kerala]] started functioning in [[Trivandrum]], India, which is not only India's first public library but also the first such institution outside of Europe. However, there had come into being a whole network of library provisions on a private or institutional basis. Subscription libraries, both private and commercial, provided the middle to upper classes with a variety of books for moderate fees.

===Private-subscription libraries===
[[File:Linen Hall Library, 1888.jpg|thumb|The [[Linen Hall Library]] was an 18th-century [[subscription library]]. Pictured in 1888, shortly before its demolition.]]
Private-subscription libraries functioned in much the same manner as commercial subscription libraries, though they varied in many important ways. One of the most popular versions of the private-subscription library was the "gentlemen only" library. The gentlemen's subscription libraries, sometimes known as proprietary libraries, were nearly all organized on a common pattern. Membership was restricted to the proprietors or shareholders, and ranged from a dozen or two to between four and five hundred. The entrance fee, i.e. the purchase price of a share, was in early days usually a guinea, but rose sharply as the century advanced, often reaching four or five guineas during the French wars; the annual subscription, during the same period, rose from about six shillings to ten shillings or more. The book-stock was, by modern standards, small (Liverpool, with over 8,000 volumes in 1801, seems to have been the largest), and was accommodated, at the outset, in makeshift premises—very often over a bookshop, with the bookseller acting as librarian and receiving an honorarium for his pains.<ref name="Kelly, Thomas 1966; p. 128">Kelly, Thomas (1966); p. 128</ref>

The Liverpool [[subscription library]] was a gentlemen-only library. In 1798, it was renamed the Athenaeum when it was rebuilt with a newsroom and coffeehouse. It had an entrance fee of one guinea and annual subscription of five shillings.<ref>Kelly, Thomas (1966); p. 126</ref> An analysis of the registers for the first twelve years provides glimpses of middle-class reading habits in a mercantile community at this period. The largest and most popular sections of the library were History, Antiquities, and Geography, with 283 titles and 6,121 borrowings, and Belles Lettres, with 238 titles and 3,313 borrowings.<ref>Kelly, Thomas (1966); p. 133</ref> The most popular single work was John Hawkesworth's ''Account of Voyages ... in the Southern Hemisphere'' (3 vols) which was borrowed on 201 occasions. The records also show that in 1796, membership had risen by 1/3 to 198 subscribers (of whom 5 were women) and the titles increased five-fold to 4,987. This mirrors the increase in reading interests. A patron list from the Bath Municipal Library shows that from 1793 to 1799, the library held a stable 30% of their patrons as female.<ref>Kaufman, Paul. Libraries and Their Users. Page 29. The Library Association. 1969. Print.</ref>

It was also uncommon for these libraries to have buildings designated solely as the library building during the 1790s, though in the 19th century, many libraries would begin building elaborate permanent residences. Bristol, Birmingham, and Liverpool were the few libraries with their own building.<ref>Kelly, Thomas (1966); p. 129</ref> The accommodations varied from the shelf for a few dozen volumes in the country stationer's or draper's shop, to the expansion to a back room, to the spacious elegant areas of [[Hookham's Circulating Library|Hookham's]] or those at the resorts like Scarborough, and four in a row at Margate.<ref>Kaufman, Paul (1969); p. 193</ref>

Private-subscription libraries held a greater amount of control over both membership and the types of books in the library. There was almost a complete elimination of cheap fiction in the private societies.<ref>Kaufman, Paul (1969); p. 209</ref> Subscription libraries prided themselves on respectability. The highest percentage of subscribers were often landed proprietors, gentry, and old professions.<ref>Allan, David (2008); p. 68</ref>

Towards the end of the 18th century and in the first decades of the 19th century, the demand for books and general education made itself felt among social classes generated by the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution.<ref>Irwin, Raymond (1964); p. 53</ref> The late-18th century saw a rise in subscription libraries intended for the use of tradesmen. In 1797, there was established at Kendal what was known as the Economical Library, "designed principally for the use and instruction of the working classes."<ref>Kelly, Thomas (1966); p. 127</ref> There was also the Artizans' library established at Birmingham in 1799. The entrance fee was 3 shillings, and the subscription was 1 shilling 6 pence per quarter. This was a library of general literature. Novels, at first excluded, were afterwards admitted on condition that they did not account for more than one-tenth of the annual income.<ref name="Kelly, Thomas 1966; p. 128"/>

===19th–20th centuries===
====United Kingdom====
[[File:James Silk Buckingham by Clara S. Lane.jpg|thumb|[[James Silk Buckingham]] led the campaign for public libraries in the mid-19th century.]]

In 1835, and against government opposition, [[James Silk Buckingham]], MP for Sheffield and a supporter of the [[temperance movement]], was able to secure the Chair of the [[Select committee (United Kingdom)|select committee]] which would examine "the extent, causes, and consequences of the prevailing vice of intoxication among the labouring classes of the United Kingdom" and propose solutions. [[Francis Place]], a campaigner for the working class, agreed that "the establishment of parish libraries and district reading rooms, and popular lectures on subjects both entertaining and instructive to the community might draw off a number of those who now frequent public houses for the sole enjoyment they afford".<ref>Select Committee on inquiry into drunkenness, ''Report'' (1834)</ref> Buckingham introduced to Parliament a Public Institution Bill allowing boroughs to charge a tax to set up libraries and museums, the first of its kind. Although this did not become law, it had a major influence on [[William Ewart (English politician)|William Ewart]] MP and [[Joseph Brotherton]] MP, who introduced a bill which would "[empower] boroughs with a population of 10,000 or more to raise a ½d for the establishment of museums".<ref>Kelly & Kelly (1977), p. 77</ref> This became the [[Museums Act 1845]].

The advocacy of Ewart and Brotherton then succeeded in having a select committee set up to consider public library provision. The Report argued that the provision of public libraries would steer people towards temperate and moderate habits. With a view to maximising the potential of current facilities, the committee made two significant recommendations. They suggested that the government should issue grants to aid the foundation of libraries and that the Museums Act 1845 should be amended and extended to allow for a tax to be levied for the establishment of public libraries.<ref>Minto (1932) chapters 3-4</ref><ref>Murison (1971) chapter 2</ref>

Objections were raised about the increase in [[taxation]], the potential infringement on private enterprise and the existing library provision such as [[mechanics' institutes]] and the fear that it would give rise to "unhealthy social agitation".<ref>Hansard (1850) Col. 848</ref> The bill passed through [[Parliament]] as most MPs felt that public libraries would provide facilities for self-improvement through books and reading for all classes, and that the greater levels of education attained by providing public libraries would result in lower [[crime rate]]s.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

Under the terms of the [[Museums Act 1845]], the municipalities of [[Warrington]] and [[Salford, Greater Manchester|Salford]] established libraries in their museums. Warrington Municipal Library opened in 1848.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

Although by the mid-19th century, England could claim 274 [[subscription library|subscription libraries]] and Scotland, 266, the foundation of the modern public library system in Britain is the [[Public Libraries Act 1850]]. The act first gave local [[municipal borough|boroughs]] the power to establish free public libraries and was the first legislative step toward the creation of an enduring national institution that provides universal free access to information and literature. In the 1830s, at the height of the [[Chartism|Chartist]] movement, there was a general tendency towards reformism in the United Kingdom. The middle classes were concerned that the workers' free time was not being well-spent. This was prompted more by Victorian middle class paternalism than by demand from the lower social orders.<ref>McMenemy (2009), pp. 24-26</ref> Campaigners felt that encouraging the lower classes to spend their free time on morally uplifting activities, such as reading, would promote greater social good.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Llibrary.htm|title=History of the Public Libraries Act|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316170538/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Llibrary.htm|archive-date=16 March 2014}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=October 2021}} [[Norwich]] lays claim to being the first municipality to adopt the Public Libraries Act 1850 (which allowed any municipal borough with a population of 100,000 or more to introduce a halfpenny rate to establish public libraries—although not to buy books); although it did not then establish a library until 1857.<ref name="Minto1932" />

[[File:Kingswood Library.jpg|thumb|A modern library in the United Kingdom, located on [[Kingswood Estate]], [[London Borough of Southwark|Southwark]], 2025]]

In 1848, Warrington opened a [[Warrington Museum & Art Gallery|museum and library]] under the terms of the [[Museums Act 1845]]:<ref name="Minto1932">{{cite book |last1=Minto |first1=John |title=A History of the Public Library Movement in Great Britain and Ireland |date=1932 |publisher=George Allen & Unwin Ltd |location=London |pages=96-98 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.198038/page/n94/mode/1up |access-date=31 May 2025}}</ref> it was the first [[Rates in the United Kingdom|rate]]-supported library in the UK.<ref>{{cite web |title=Warrington's Libraries |url=https://warringtonhistorysociety.uk/warringtons-libraries/ |website=Warrington History Society |access-date=31 May 2025}}</ref> [[Salford Museum and Art Gallery]] first opened in November 1850 as "The Royal Museum & Public Library", the first unconditionally free public library in England.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/ewm/001ewm/024_sal_mayor/index.html |publisher=Manchesteronline |title=Eye witness in Manchester |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513165303/http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/ewm/001ewm/024_sal_mayor/index.html |archive-date=13 May 2008 }} Retrieved on 5 September 2008</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visitsalford.info/whattosee/heritage/industrialheritage/industrialheritage1st.htm|publisher=visitsalford.info|title=1st In Salford|access-date=19 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107050723/http://www.visitsalford.info/whattosee/heritage/industrialheritage/industrialheritage1st.htm|archive-date=7 January 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> Early public libraries established under the 1850 Act were [[Winchester]] (1851), [[Manchester]] (1852), [[Bolton]] (1853) and Oxford (1854), followed by [[Liverpool]], [[Kidderminster]], [[Cambridge]], [[Birkenhead]] and [[Sheffield]]. The library opened in [[Castlefield|Campfield]], Manchester, in 1842 was the first library to operate a "free" lending library without subscription.<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2238494.stm | work=BBC News | title=Anniversary of first public library | date=5 September 2002 | access-date=14 April 2010 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040620130317/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2238494.stm | archive-date=20 June 2004 }}</ref> Salford's library, which had opened two years earlier, began as a reference library, before it likewise began to offer a lending service in 1854.<ref name="Minto1932" />

The Public Libraries Act 1850 was noteworthy because it established the principle of free public libraries. In 1866, an amending act, the [[Public Libraries Amendment Act 1866]] ([[29 & 30 Vict.]] c. 114) was passed<ref>Public Libraries Amendment Act, 29 & 30 Vict. c. 114</ref> which eliminated the population limit for the establishment of a library and replaced the two-thirds majority previously required for adoption with a simple majority. It also allowed neighbouring parishes to combine with an existing or potential library authority. Despite the rise in the level of tax public libraries could levy, it was still very difficult for boroughs to raise enough capital to fund new libraries. The growth of the public library movement in the wake of the 1850 act relied heavily on the donations of philanthropists.<ref>Kelly (1973), pp. 107-137</ref>

County libraries were a later development, which were made possible by the establishment of county councils in 1888. They normally have a large central library in a major town with smaller branch libraries in other towns and a mobile library service covering rural areas.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

The [[Public Libraries Act 1964]] required local authorities to provide a "comprehensive and efficient" library service. <ref>Marwick, A. (1982). ''British society since 1945,''p.140. Harmondsworth: Penguin</ref> Public libraries built in the 1960s were characterized by modernism. <ref>Black, Alistair. 2011. "‘New Beauties’: The Design of British Public Library Buildings in the 1960s". ''Library Trends'' 60 (1): 71–111. doi:10.1353/lib.2011.0033.</ref>

====United States====
{{multiple image
 | total_width = 400
 | image1=Public librarian.jpg| alt1=Andrew Carnegie illustration in ad for librarian.
 | image2=Carnegie Free Library, Burlington, Kansas (corner view).jpg| alt2=image of MN Senate chamber with Senate in session
 | footer = Left: Andrew Carnegie illustration in ad for librarian, 1893; Right: Carnegie Free Library in [[Burlington, Kansas]]
}}
The modern public library grew at a great pace at the end of the 19th century especially in the [[English-speaking world]]. Philanthropists and businessmen, including [[John Passmore Edwards]], [[Henry Tate]] and [[Andrew Carnegie]], helped to fund the establishment of large numbers of public libraries for the edification of the masses.

[[Public libraries in North America]] developed from the 18th century to today; as the country grew more populous and wealthier, factors such as a push for education and desire to [[Sharing|share]] knowledge led to broad public support for free libraries. In addition, money donations by private philanthropists provided the seed capital to get many libraries started. In some instances, collectors donated large book collections.<ref>Jesse Hauk Shera, ''Foundations of the public library;: The origins of the public library movement in New England, 1629–1885'' (1965)</ref>

[[File:Illustration of Redwood Library and Athenaeum in 1768.jpg|thumb|Illustration of Redwood Library and Athenaeum in 1768]]
The first public lending library still in operation in the US is the [[Franklin_Public_Library_(Massachusetts)|Franklin Public Library]] which began with no building and just over 100 books donated by [[Benjamin Franklin]] after they named their town after him. The first modern public library in the world supported by taxes was the Peterborough Town Library in [[Peterborough, New Hampshire]]. It was "established in 1833".<ref>{{cite web|title=History and Renovation of the Peterborough Town Library|url=https://peterboroughtownlibrary.org/history-and-renovation-9330/location/peterborough|website=Peterborough Town Library|access-date=16 November 2022}}</ref> The first large public library supported by taxes in the [[United States]] was the [[Boston Public Library]], which was established in 1848 but did not open its doors to the public until 1854.<ref>{{cite web|title=Boston Public Library A Brief History and Description|url=http://www.bpl.org/general/history.htm|website=Boston Public Library|access-date=26 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626114123/http://www.bpl.org/general/history.htm|archive-date=26 June 2014}}</ref>

The Redwood Library and Athenaeum was founded in 1747 by a group led by Abraham Redwood.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.redwoodlibrary.org|title=Home|access-date=15 May 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527094742/http://www.redwoodlibrary.org/|archive-date=27 May 2016}}</ref> It was the first library in Rhode Island and the oldest lending library in America. Over half of its volumes were lost when it was used as the British Officers Club during the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]]. An effort was made to replace the original collection. Over 90% of the volumes lost were returned. The library is still in use.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.redwoodlibrary.org/history|title=History|access-date=15 May 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423010514/http://www.redwoodlibrary.org/history|archive-date=23 April 2016}}</ref>

A total of 1,689 [[Carnegie library|Carnegie libraries]] were built in the United States between 1883 and 1929, including some belonging to universities. By 1930, half the American public libraries had been built by Carnegie.<ref>{{cite book | last = Jones | first = Theodore | title = Carnegie Libraries across America | publisher = Preservation Press | location = Washington | year = 1997 | isbn = 978-0-471-14422-9 }}</ref>

Federal library legislation supporting public libraries has been a focus of the American Library Association, Washington Office. <ref>Molumby, Lawrence E. (1996).  "[https://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/ppa ALA Washington Office: A Chronology of its First Fifty Years.]"American Library Association.</ref>

Democracy within the life of libraries in the 20th and 21st century has been explored in the essay, "Libraries, Democracy, and
Citizenship: Twenty Years after 9/11."<ref>Buschman, John. (2023) "Libraries, Democracy, and Citizenship: Twenty Years after 9/11." ''Library Quarterly.''93 (April):182-201.</ref>

====Other countries====
[[File:Gonohe town librery.jpg|thumb|Library in the rural town of [[Gonohe, Aomori]], Japan]]
The first public library in [[Australia]] was the Melbourne Public Library (now the [[State Library of Victoria]]), which opened in 1856, just a few years after their introduction into Britain. This was however purely a reference library. In September 1869, the [[New South Wales]] (NSW) 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 [[George Rogers Harding|Justice Harding]]. In 1935 the ''[[Free library movement]]'' was established in New South Wales advocating for free public libraries to be supported by municipal authorities.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Remington|first1=G. C.|title=The Free Library Movement|journal=The Australian Quarterly|volume=9|issue=2|pages=87–93|doi=10.2307/20629436|jstor=20629436|year=1937}}</ref> A similar movement was established in Victoria within a couple of years.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1937|title=Free Public Libraries| url=http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/114472|access-date=4 September 2019|website=State Library Victoria }}</ref>

"[[New Zealand]] was, by the third quarter of the nineteenth century, a veritable paradise for readers, with the formation of public libraries following closely on the heels of the settlers as they spread across the country."<ref>Traue, J. E. 2007. “The Public Library Explosion in Colonial New Zealand.” ''Libraries & the Cultural Record: Exploring the History of Collections of Recorded Knowledge 42'' (2): 151–64.</ref>

Pre-Independence libraries in [[India]] have been discussed by R.K. Bhatt and K. Kandhasamy.<ref>Bhatt, R. K., and Kandhasamy K. 2020. "A Study of Public Libraries in India: Pre-Independence Period". ''Library Philosophy & Practice'', November, 1–20.</ref>

[[Eugène Morel]], a writer and one of the librarians at the [[Bibliothèque nationale]], pioneered modern public libraries in France. He put forward his ideas in the 1910 book ''La Librairie publique''.<ref>{{cite web |title= La Librairie publique |year= 1910 |publisher= Enssib.fr |format= PDF |url= http://www.enssib.fr/bibliotheque-numerique/document-brut-48832 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111003225919/http://www.enssib.fr/bibliotheque-numerique/document-brut-48832 |archive-date= 3 October 2011 }}
</ref><ref>Gaëtan Benoît, ''Eugène Morel, pioneer of public libraries in France'', Litwin Books, 2008.
</ref>

Mexican public libraries trace their origins to convent and monastery libraries in the sixteenth century, but the first modern public library dates from 1758 when the Biblioteca Turriana—named after its founder and donors, the three cathedral canons Luis Antonio Torres Quintero, Cayetano Antonio de Torres Tuñón, and Luis Antonio de Torres Tuñón—was established at the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral.   Liberal governments seized its holdings in 1867 to establish the National Library.

Japanese public libraries greatly expanded in the 1950s with the Library Law.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chandler |first1=G. |title=The Japanese library and information system: a Broad comparative survey of its evolution and structure, 1947-82 |journal=International Library Review |date=1983 |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=389–407|doi=10.1016/0020-7837(83)90059-6 }}</ref>