-
30 BCE
Ancient Library of Alexandria
In 3rd century BC the Ancient Library of Alexandria was started in Alexandria, Egypt . It was one of worlds first libraries and said to be one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. -
800
Monastery Libraries
The Catholic church was devoted to preserving works of written word. Monasteries were set up all through out Western Europe where monks spent their time copying christian texts. By the 800s they had enough books that they needed a librarian to catalog them. -
1300
University Libraries
University libraries began opening as early as the 1300s. The Sorbonne started a large collection which was donated to them. Other schools such as Oxford, Heidelberg, and Trinity Colleges also started their own collection for students and staff to use. -
1440
The Invention of Printing
Libraries before got all of their books from copying. But after the invention of printing it became a lot easier to make books more widely available. Printing allowed university libraries to expand their collections. Now instead of spending so much time copying and protecting books people could spend more time collecting and reading them. -
Library Company of Philadelphia
The Library Company of Philadelphia was started in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin and his associates in 1731. It was originally inside the Independence Hall. This was a private library and to be apart of it you would have to buy stock in it. -
First Modern Public Library
The first modern public library was opened in 1854 in the City of Boston. The Boston Public Library made way for all of the public libraries after. -
The Dewey Decimal System
Melvil Dewey invented the Dewey Decimal system in 1876. He created the system so that way there was a way to universally organize libraries. -
The Great Depression
The Great Depression forced libraries to cut their budgets. But after The New Deal libraries started to get money back to rebuild and add more to their collections. -
Federal Cutbacks for Libraries
The federal government made big cutbacks to library spending making libraries reach out to private donors for funding to support them. -
World Wide Web
The Internet became available to libraries and changed the way we find information. It also changed the way we use libraries and how things are cataloged.
