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History of Libraries Timeline

  • 100

    Paper :100

    Paper :100
    Paper-makingThe Chinese made paper from rags, on which modern-day papermaking is based.
  • Period: 100 to

    History Of Libraries-Timeline

  • 114

    Bibliothecan-Ulpian Library: 114BC

    Bibliothecan-Ulpian Library: 114BC
    Bibliothecan-Ulpian Library
    Bibliothecan-Ulpian library was built by Emperor Trajan of Rome. After Alexandria and Pergamum, the Bibliotheca Ulpia (as it is called by the Historia Augusta) was the most famous library of antiquity and, of all the Roman libraries, the only one to have survived at least until the mid-fifth century AD.
  • 300

    The Royal Library of Alexandria: 300BC

    The Royal Library of Alexandria: 300BC
    Royal Library of AlexandriaThe Royal library of Alexandria, the largest known library in the ancient world. Consisted of information inscribed on papyrus rolls which were destroyed by weather conditions before the physical structure was destroyed. Most of its collection was from Aristotle.
    Note: Watch a video "The lost treasure of the Alexandria library."
  • 321

    Aristotle 384BC-321-BC

    Aristotle 384BC-321-BC
    Aristole 384BC-321BCAristotle had a renowned private library book collection.
    Ancient geographer Strabo said Aristotle, "was the first to have put together a collection of books and to have taught the kings in Egypt how to arrange a library."
  • 357

    The Imperial library of Constantinople: 357

    The Imperial library of Constantinople: 357
    The Imperial Library of ConstantinopoleThe Imperial library of Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey). Due to the deterioration of papyrus information on papyrus material Emperor Constantius II ordered the transfer of information to more permanent form on parchments or vellum
  • 410

    Ancient Greece: 410BC

    Ancient Greece: 410BC
    Ancient Greece people had personal book collections. Eg Euripides had a personal collection from his writings mainly compositions focusing on tragedy.
  • Oct 31, 600

    Creation of Books and Libraries: 600BC

    Creation of Books and Libraries: 600BC
    Creation of Books and LibrariesBooks and libraries took a more form permanent with the development of papyrus. This was seen in: The Greeks began to fold sheets of papyrus vertically into leaves and bind them together; Religious leaders in Mesopotamia keping the earliest "books" and the Egyptians kept scrolls.
  • Jul 9, 627

    Earliest Library Collection Nineveh: 668BC-627BC:

    Earliest Library Collection Nineveh: 668BC-627BC:
    Earliest library collection Nineveh
    The library collection found in Nineveh consisted of an estimated 20,000-30,000 clay tablets owned by King Ashurbanipal of Assyria. He was among the few who had been trained in scribal art. On each of his work he inscribed a book curse to prevalent stealing of his intellectual material.
  • Aug 20, 1256

    Melton College Library: 1256

    Melton College Library: 1256
    Merton College LibraryThe library of Merton College, Oxford, which calls itself the "the world’s oldest continuously functioning library for university academics and students"Growing steadily over the centuries and currently comprising more than 70,000 volumes, the library collections in manuscript, print and electronic formats reflect the University curriculum from the middle ages to the present day.
  • Aug 19, 1328

    College De Sorbonne : 1328

    College De Sorbonne : 1328
    1328 : Established 1257, College De Sorbonne University of Paris) expanded its library to cater for the growing student population comprising of over 20,000 foreign students. It was considered the capital of knowledge in the Western world. It is also recognized as the earliest to use systematic form of book organization into various branches of knowledge.
  • Sep 11, 1444

    The Dominican Convent of San Marco in Florence: 1444

    The Dominican Convent of San Marco in Florence: 1444
    Dominican Convent of San Marco MuseumThe First "Public" Library in Renaissance Europe. “Public” meaning collective use of the institutional community not for commoners. San Marco is the current name of one of the most important religious complex in Florence. The huge architectonical complex is set out by the former Monastery of San Marco and the Church after its name.
  • Apr 12, 1467

    Printed Books 1456-1467

    Printed Books 1456-1467
    Printed Books1456-Gutenberg prints Bible.1457-Psalmorum Codex published by Fust and Schoffer in Mainz;first extant printed book with colophon; also Mainz Psalter,earliest example of color printing.1460- Mentelin established press in Strasbourg.
    1465-First printed book in Italy.1466- Ulrich Zell establishes press in Cologne.1467- First use of roman type face in printed book.
  • Sep 12, 1539

    La Bibliotheca Colombina Library: 1510-1539

    La Bibliotheca Colombina Library: 1510-1539
    La Bibliotheca Colombina LibraryFerdinand Columbus, the second son of Christopher Columbus, collected one of the largest private libraries of the sixteenth century. This library, La Bibliotheca Colombina, included about 15,000 volumes, of which about 7000 survive today, including 1194 books printed before 1501.
  • John Havard:1638

    John Havard:1638
    John HarvardJohn Harvard, a clergyman from Massachusetts, founded the Harvard University Library (HUL) in 1638 with a donation of 260 books to the new university. From this small beginning, HUL has grown to become the largest academic library in the world consisting of more than 90 libraries throughout the world. Its collection includes more than 15.39 million volumes to which founder John Harvard contributed a total of 400 books.
  • Philadelphia Library Company: 1730

    Philadelphia Library Company: 1730
    Philadelphia Library Company
    Most Americans in the 1730s had limited access to books. Books, in early America, were rare and expensive. There were no public libraries. Only the very wealthy and the clergy had access to large numbers of books. Even men of moderate means could not readily afford books. On July 1, 1731, Franklin and a group of members from the Junto, a philosophical association, drew up "Articles of Agreement" to form a library.
  • Library of Congress:1800

    Library of Congress:1800
    Library of CongressLibrary of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution. It is also the largest library in the world, with more than 130 million items on 532 miles of bookshelves. The collections include more than 29 million books, as well as nearly 95 million maps, manuscripts, photographs, films, audio and video recordings, prints and drawings, and other special collections.
  • The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP):1813

    The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP):1813
    Federal Depository Library ProgramFDLP began in an effort by Congress to ensure that the American population had access to its government's information. Since its creation, the mission of the FDLP has been to collect, organize and preserve publications of the Federal Government and assist citizens in obtaining and using that information. Currently there are close to 1300 Federal depository libraries in all fifty states, the District of Columbia and six U.S. territories.
  • American School and Asylum Libraries 1769-1828

    American  School and Asylum Libraries 1769-1828
    American School and Asylum LibrariesNew YorK, the pioneer in founding school libraries. Governor De Witt Clinton (1769-1828), in a message to the legislature, recommended library formation; but it was not till 1835 that the friends of free schools saw their hopes realized in the passage of a law which permitted the voters in any school district to levy a tax of $20 to begin a library, and a tax of $10 each succeeding year to provide for its increase.
  • National Library of Medicine:1837

    National Library of Medicine:1837
    National Library of MedicineThe National Library of Medicine was in the early years, it was simply the reference collection for the office of the Army Surgeon General. In 1862, the National Library of Medicine was founded and as the two institutions grew, they often shared space. In 1936, NLM was transferred to the control of the Department of Health, Education,and Welfare. In 1962 it moved to its present location on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
  • Book Indexes:1450-1840

    Book Indexes:1450-1840
    Book IndexesThe first information explosion occured when Johann Gutenberg (Mainz, Germany), invented the movable metal-type printing process in 1450. This facilitated the development of book indexes and the widespread use of page numbers.
  • Smithsonian Institution Library:1846

    Smithsonian Institution Library:1846
    Smithsonian Institution LibraryAn Act of Congress dated 10 August 1846 established the Smithsonian Institution as a trust instrumentality of the United States, created a Board of Regents, and called for a building to house a museum with geological and mineralogical cabinets, a chemical laboratory, a gallery of art, lecture rooms, and a library. Library of Congress were given copyright deposit status.
  • Traveling Libraries:1896

    Traveling Libraries:1896
    Traveling LibrariesSenator Stout (UW-Stout named after him!) founded the traveling library concept for Dunn County. 32 boxes were made available for circulation, and each box contained 30 volumes of various materials. These books ranged from cookbooks to magazines. These boxes traveled to homes, schools and post offices.
  • SuDoc Classification System: 1903

    SuDoc Classification System: 1903
    SuDoc Classification SystemSuperintendent of Documents developed a classification system -SuDoc, to deal the with the increasing number of documents created by the federal government. SuDoc, is based on the theory of provenance, which dictates that documents are grouped by their producing government agencies.
  • Clara M. Edmunds: 1930

    Clara M. Edmunds: 1930
    1930: Clara M. Edmunds, the head librarian of the president's public information service, conceived, developed, and directed a library with a comprehensive collection of all relevant federal documents. It was updated hourly, if necessary, to keep pace with the latest developments on Capitol Hill and in the White House, the executive branch agencies, and the courts.
  • Melvin Dewey:1851 – 1931

    Melvin Dewey:1851 – 1931
    Melvin Dewey1887 : Melvin Dewey founds The School of Library Service, the first training school for librarians. Dewey invented the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) system when he was 21 and working as a student assistant in the library of Amherst College. His work created a revolution in library science and set in motion a new era of librarianship. He helped establish the American Library Association (ALA) in 1876.
  • Ruth Brown: 1950

    Ruth Brown: 1950
    Ruth Brown
    Ruth Brown (b. July 26, 1891) began working as director of the public library in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, in 1919.Both Ruth Brown and Alicia Hull were public librarians who were fired from public libraries for refusing to remove material considered "communist" from their libraries."Storm Center" film was done as a documantary on this issue.
  • Book Censorship: 1959

    Book Censorship: 1959
    Book Censorship1959 - Marjorie Fiske's famous Book Selection and Censorship in California was published. This study documented the effect that fear can have on self-censorship. This study is a classic.
  • Library Punch Cards: 1936-1965

    Library Punch Cards: 1936-1965
    Library Punch Cards Use of punched cards in US libraries and documentation centers by librarians, particularly those in traditional academic and public libraries, were slow. In contrast, special librarians and documentalists, with their small systems and focus on retrieving information for users, readily adopted punched cards. The results were dramatic: improved ability to index scientific and technical information and better user service.
  • Digital Library:1971

    Digital Library:1971
    Digital LibraryProject Gutenberg, began in 1971 by University of Illinois student Michael Hart, is devoted to converting public domain literature to electronic format and making the results available for free to the public. There are currently 17,000 free e-books available on the Project Gutenberg website. Volunteers work to add new texts to the collection, either typing copies themselves or using digital page scanners with OCR (text recognition) software. New books are added to Project Gutenberg every day.
  • Kindle:2007

    Kindle:2007
    KindleAmazon.com releases their version of an electronic book reading device in November. The Kindle sold out within the first few hours of its release and Amazon was unable to restock the item until April of 2008. The impact the paperless book will have on libraries is unclear.
  • Oldest Manuscript: 896

    Oldest Manuscript: 896
    Oldest ManuscriptOldest extant manuscript featuring colophon.Originally, all books were in manuscript form. In China, and later other parts of East Asia, Woodblock printing was used for books from about the seventh century. The earliest dated example is the Diamond Sutra of 868. In the Islamic world and the West, all books were in manuscript until the introduction of movable type printing in about 1450.
  • Library of Pergamon: 197BC- 159BC

    Library of Pergamon: 197BC- 159BC
    Library at Pergamon
    The library of Pergamon (now Bergama, Turkey).Library of Pergamon,was founded by the Attalid king Eumenes II.The development of new technologies in library science involving the media of parchment in place of papyrus and the codex instead of the scroll or roll was, more pronounced in Pergamon than in Alexandria.
  • Paper making and Sizing in Asia:700-800

    Paper making and Sizing in Asia:700-800
    Paper sizing and papermaking reaches and develops Central Asia and Middle East. This influenced the making of books and creation of libraries.