U.S. Libraries History

  • Harvard University Library

    Harvard University Library
    John Harvard donates 260 books to found the Harvard University Library
  • Yale University Library founded

    Yale University Library founded
    Early academic library started
  • Company Library of Philadelphia

    Company Library of Philadelphia
    First successful lending library, established by Benjamin Frankin
  • Library of Congress founded

    Library of Congress founded
  • First public library

    First public library
    Bingham Library for Youth in Salisbury, Connecticut; the first public library for all ages began in 1834 in New Hampshire
  • Federal Depositoty Library Program

    Federal Depositoty Library Program
    Federal Depository Library Program began to archive all federal documents.
  • First apprentice libraries

    First apprentice libraries
    Free apprentice libraries opening in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia
  • Smithsonian Libraries

    Smithsonian Libraries
    Largest and most diverse museum library in the world;
    US federal agency with 20 buildings;
    Specialties: arts, history and cultures, science and technology history, aviation, anthropology
  • Sunday school libraries

    Census recorded 1,988 Sunday school libraries.
  • Boston Public Library

    Boston Public Library
    One of the oldest and respected free public libraries
  • First federal funding for libraries

    Library Services Act for public libraries
  • American Library Association

    American Library Association
    The American Library Association was established.
  • Dewey Decimal Classification started

    Melvil Dewey publishes the first edition of Decimal Classification, the first version of what is now known as the Dewey Decimal Classification
  • First library school

    First library school
    Melvil Dewey opened the first library school at Columbia University with seventeen female and three male students. Before this event, academic librarians learned their profession by trial and error or by learning from other librarians. He moved the school to the New York State Library in Albany in 1889 because Columbia objected to admitting female students. By 1900, a library school degree or certificate was necessary to be a chief librarian of a university.
  • Carnegie libraries

    Carnegie libraries
    First library established in Braddock, Pennsylvania; 1689 libraries built in United States
  • Home collections for inner city and rural areas

    In the 1890s some libraries were also established in under-served inner-city and adjoining rural areas, providing a dozen or so books to a residence, and training older teens to manage their circulation; the home collections were changed every quarter to replenish reading
  • Law to develop school libraries

    Landmark model legislation for development of school libraries passed in New York
  • Formal training for children’s services started

    Formal training for children’s services began in 1900 at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, and the American Library Association (ALA) established a Children’s Librarian’s Section in 1900.
  • Bookmobiles

    Bookmobiles
    Bookmobiles brings books to patrons for civic improvement
  • Special Libraries Association established.

    Special Libraries Association established.
  • New York Public Library

    New York Public Library
    Known for huge historical collections; has 92 branches; holds 51 million items; 32 million visits per year
  • First standards for school libraries and library training

    Developed by the National Education Association (NEA) in 1916, and approved by the American Library Association (ALA) in 1920: Standard Library Organization and Equipment for Secondary Schools of Different Sizes.
  • Newbery Award established

    Newbery Award established
    First Newbery Award selected by American Library Association
  • Public Library youth services

    Public libraries in several cites set up separate service for young people
  • First Caldecott Award

    First Caldecott Award
    First Caldecott Awardselected for best picture book for children
  • Library Bill of Rights

    Library Bill of Rights adopted by American Library Associatoin
  • School Library Standards

    School Libraries for Today and Tomorrow: Functions and Standards published by the Committees on Post-War Planning of the Division of Libraries for Children and Young People and its section, the American Association of School Librarian
  • First federal funding for school libraries

    Enacted with the National Defense Educational Act because of Sputnik
  • National Book Week started

    National Book Week started
    One of the means that heightened public awareness was National Book Week, begun in 1958 by the National Book Committee and ALA.
  • Federal funding of school libraries

    Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is passed—Title II provides funds for the purchase of library materials and textbooks
  • OCLC founded

    OCLC founded
    OCLC Online Computer Library Center for cooperated catalogin is founded.
  • MARC adopted

    MARC (Machine Readable Cataloging) II is released as the United States standard.
  • Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts

    Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts
    Seminal book about young adults and library services: The Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts: The Library and the Young Adult by Margaret A. Edwards
  • Phillip Exeter Academy Library

    Phillip Exeter Academy Library
    Largest secondary school library in the world
  • Mansueto Library

    Mansueto Library
    University of Chicago Library
    First almost fully automated library
  • Bibliotech

    Bibliotech
    First fully digital public library; Includes 20.000 ebooks, rereaders, computers, interactive surface tables, study rooms, cafe
  • Association for College and Research Libraries Information Literacy Framework

    Association for College and Research Libraries Information Literacy Framework
    Authority Is Constructed and Contextual
    Information Creation as a Process
    Information Has Value
    Research as Inquiry
    Scholarship as Conversation
    Searching as Strategic Exploration
  • Newest national standards for school librarians

    Newest national standards for school librarians
    The AASL Standards framework reflects a comprehensive approach to teaching and learning by demonstrating the connection between learner, school librarian, and school library standards. Three sets of standards (Learner, School Librarian, and School Library) make up the AASL Standards Integrated Framework featured within the National School Library Standards.