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Happy National Library Week! Since 1958, we’ve observed this tribute established by the American Library Association. Here are some “book bits” for readers to chew on during this commemorative week. • The word “library” has its origins in the Latin, the word liber meaning “book.” Humans have long recognized the need for an organized archive of history. The earliest libraries dating back to 2600 BC included papyrus scrolls and clay tablets written in cuneiform script. There was even a library classification system as early as 700 BC. • As French settlers made their way to North America in the 1500s, they brought their personal book collections with them. The first non-personal library was established in Quebec City in 1635 at the Jesuit College. Three years later, clergyman John Harvard bequeathed his 400-volume library and half of his estate to the College at New Towne. The college was renamed Harvard College in his honor, and the library’s meager beginnings have grown into the largest academic library and third largest library overall in the United States, with close to 17 million volumes. • In the 17th and 18th centuries, as the quantity of books increased with the advent of printing, there was a considerable increase in the interest of libraries. In 1731, Benjamin Franklin introduced the idea of a “subscription library,” one that shared books among members of a literary society. People could join by purchasing “stock” in the organization, and books were lent only to members. • The Bodleian Library, the main research center for the University of Oxford, was established in 1602. By 1914, the total number of books in its collections had already passed the one million mark. • America’s first actual public library was the Boston Public Library which opened its doors in 1854. Today it’s the second largest library in the U.S., second only to the U.S. Library of Congress. Established in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s largest library. Originally housed in the Capitol building, its 30,000 volumes were completely destroyed in August, 1814 when British troops set fire to the Capitol during the War of 1812. Former president Thomas Jefferson immediately offered his personal library of 6,487 books (which he had spent 50 years collecting) for sale as a replacement, and Congress appropriated $23,950 for the purchase. • Educator and Columbia University librarian Melvil Dewey copyrighted his decimal classification system for books in 1876, a system still used by most libraries. Each category, for example “Philosophy and Psychology,” is assigned a number, which is then divided into subcategories in increments of 10. • Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie gave millions of dollars to fund more than 2,500 libraries in 47. U.S. states, 7 Canadian provinces, the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and the West Indies. Carnegie required that the local communities provide the land and a budget for operation. At the time of his death, Carnegie had already donated $351 million of his fortune – that’s $4.8 billion in today’s money. • There are close to 122,000 public and academic libraries in America, with about 8% of that number public libraries. Nearly 170 million Americans are registered borrowers, and they make about 1.6 billion trips to the library each year.
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