library

Table of Contents

Introduction
The changing role of libraries
The history of libraries
- The ancient world
  - Greece and Alexandria
  - Pergamum
  - Rome
  - Byzantium
  - The Islāmic world
- The Middle Ages and the Renaissance
  - The role of the European monasteries
  - The new learning
  - Effects of the Reformation and religious wars
  - The Islāmic world
- 17th and 18th centuries and the great national libraries
  - Library planning
  - Emergence of national collections
  - The effects of the French Revolution
- Later developments
Types of libraries
- National libraries
  - Bibliothèque Nationale
  - The British Library
  - Library of Congress
  - Russian State Library
  - Other national collections
- University and research libraries
- Public libraries
- Special libraries
- School libraries
- Private libraries
- Subscription libraries
- Archives
National libraries of the world
The library operation
- Training and library management
  - The professional librarian
  - Training institutes
- Library materials
  - Types of materials
    - Ancient materials
    - Photographs
    - Audiovisual materials
    - Magnetic materials
  - Access to materials
- Technical services
  - Acquisition and supply
    - Criteria for selection
    - Acquisition systems
  - Cataloging
    - Cataloging by author and subject
    - Catalog systems
    - Vehicles for catalogs
    - Catalog standardization
      Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules
      Resource Description and Access
      Other codes
    - Thesauri
  - Classification
    - The Dewey Decimal system
    - The Universal Decimal system
    - The Library of Congress system
    - The Bliss system
    - The Colon system
    - The Marxist system
  - Preservation
    - Reformatting
    - Deacidification
    - Future-conscious manufacturing
- User services
  - Circulation
  - Reference and retrieval
    - Retrospective searching
    - Current-awareness service
  - Community information
    - Library extension programs
    - Community awareness programs
- Interlibrary relations
  - Library cooperation
    - Interlibrary lending
    - Cooperative acquisition and storage
    - Cooperative cataloging
  - Associations and international organizations

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

British Museum: Reading Room

Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

Library of Congress

Moscow: Russian State Library

Parliament of Canada: Library of Parliament

National Diet Library

Puebla, Mexico: Palafox Library

New York Public Library

McKim, Charles Follen: Boston Public Library

Visit the Library of Parliament in Ontario, Canada built in the Gothic revival architectural style, and know about its history, and collections

For Students

library summary

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A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England

Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution

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Timeline of the 1990s

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The Death of Shakespeare

Statue of Nostradamus

Nostradamus and His Prophecies

African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.

Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement

library: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

News •

Libraries push back against cuts to a federal library support program • Apr. 17, 2025, 5:39 AM ET (Federal News Network)

Facts

Also Known As	librarianship

Photos and Videos

British Museum: Reading Room

Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

Library of Congress

Moscow: Russian State Library

Parliament of Canada: Library of Parliament

National Diet Library

Puebla, Mexico: Palafox Library

New York Public Library

McKim, Charles Follen: Boston Public Library

Folger Shakespeare Library

Visit the Library of Parliament in Ontario, Canada built in the Gothic revival architectural style, and know about its history, and collections

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

chitalishte public library school library special library subscription library circulating library cooperating library digital library national library parish library theatre museum World Heritage site university stadium archives playground lodge education computer

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history of publishing: Growth of libraries

Key People

James Hadley Billington

American librarian

Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach

Austrian architect

Walter Netsch

Walter Netsch

American architect

H.H. Richardson

American architect

A pioneering librarian

Belle da Costa Greene

American librarian and bibliographer

Bacchus

Jacopo Sansovino

Italian sculptor

Juan O'Gorman: Retablo de la independencia

Juan O’Gorman

Mexican architect and muralist

S.R. Ranganathan

Indian librarian

Arata Isozaki

Arata Isozaki

Japanese architect

Archibald MacLeish

American author, educator, and public official

Leland, John

John Leland

English antiquarian

Hunt, Richard Morris

Richard Morris Hunt

American architect

Apollonius of Rhodes

Greek poet

Sir Anthony Panizzi, detail of an oil painting by George Frederic Watts, c. 1847; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Sir Anthony Panizzi

Italian librarian

McKim, Charles Follen

Charles Follen McKim

American architect

Gordon Bunshaft, c. 1950s.

Gordon Bunshaft

American architect

Portrait of Colonel John Shaw Billings, M.D.

John Shaw Billings

American surgeon and librarian

Church of S. Marcello, Rome, by Carlo Fontana, c. 1683

Carlo Fontana

Italian architect

Naudé, Gabriel

Gabriel Naudé

French librarian

Melvil Dewey

Melvil Dewey

American librarian

Quiz

Books. Lord Alfred Tennyson. Lord Byron. Poetry. Reading. Literacy. Library. Antique. A stack of four antique leather bound books.

Ancient Libraries and Archives Quiz