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As early as 3,000 BCE, people started saving info in concrete form, which led to someone being in charge of all the info... and so you have librarians! This is pretty much how libraries were born.
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In 2,000 BCE, one of the most impressive early library sites was excataved in Ebla in Syria. There were over 15,000 tablets in jars or on wooden shelves.
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With 25,000 to 30,000 clay tablets in a place called Nineveh in Iraq, it is known to be the most impressive ancient library.
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These catalogs listed the group of monasteries, and were used to organize manuscript
production and assist with interlibrary loan. As time went on, monasteries developed extensive
interlibrary loan systems, allowing monasteries to use each other’s books to study and to copy. -
"We forbid those who belong to religious orders to formulate any vow against lending
books to those who are in need of them; seeing that to lend is enumerated among the
principal works of mercy." -
The Sorbonne had gathered an extensive collection
of library books on religion, science, medicine, and law donated by theologians and their
supporters. Other universities, such as Oxford, Heidelberg, and Trinity Colleges, also began
developing collections for students and faculty to use. -
Gabriel Naudé published one of the earliest textbooks on collection development. Naudé believed a royal library should
contain books covering every field of human study. -
In the 1800s, access to books were seen as a public right.
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Library of Congress launches American Memory project to make audio and visual materials accessible electronically and National Digital Library.
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The libraries were now large enough at this point, in the Medieval times, that the libraries were told to catalog them.
