History of Libraries

By Potterh
  • 3000 BCE

    Libraries and Archives

    Libraries and Archives
    Librarians and archives date back to the ancient world, some as early as 3000 BCE.
  • 2000 BCE

    Discovering Ebla

    Discovering Ebla
    Over 15,000 tablets were discovered ar Ebla, dating back to about 2000 BCE.
  • 814

    Cataloging Library Collections

    Cataloging Library Collections
    A church directive was sent to various monasteries in 814 CE, providing one of the earliest explanations and rationales for cataloging library collections.
  • 1300

    Sorbonne

    Sorbonne
    As early as 1300, the Sorbonne had amassed as extensive collection of library books on religion, science, medicine, and law, donated by theologians and their supporters.

  • Gabriel Naude

    Gabriel Naude
    Gabriel Naude published one of the earliest textbooks on collection development, in 1644

  • Thirty Year War

    Thirty Year War
    During the Thirty Year War (1618-1648), the University of Heidelberg's library was stolen and sent to Rome, because books symobolized the power of the aristocracy and the Catholic Church.

  • Libraries in America

    Libraries in America
    Rev. Thomas Bray, who is sometimes calls the "Father of American Libraries", served as a missionary in Maryland. While there, he was shocked by the poverty, ignorance, and immorality among the people. He started a society to raise money and send books to America. The society created 39 libraries.

  • Library in Philadelphia

    Library in Philadelphia
    In 1751, Quaker Merchant James Logan used his 4,000 volume collection to start a public library in Philadelphia.

  • Social Libraries

    Social Libraries
    Between the years of 1790 and 1850, almost 1200 social libraries were established.

  • Dewey Decimal System

    Dewey Decimal System
    In 1885, Melvil Dewey was hired as head librarian at the University of Columbia, to reorganize the library's collection according to his new classification system, the Dewey Decimal System, a system that is still used in 135+ countries today.