The belated library report

“Survivor: History of the Library” is not an actual website, but an article on the larger History Magazine website. This magazine was created in 1999, and is now published bimonthly by Moorshead Magazine Ltd. It is available on newsstands, at genealogical supply stores, and by subscription. The website was established to provide information about the magazine, and to help promote sales. One of the ways this latter goal is accomplished is by the inclusion of the “preview an issue” link on the website. Someone interested in perusing a sample issue may click on a tab on the left side of the home page, which leads to a selection of articles. One of the choices is “Survivor: History of the Library.” It was written by Barbara Krasner-Khait, and originally published in the October/November issue of 2001. Because the article is adapted from a magazine it is not very visually interesting. It does include pictures, and it is easy enough to read, but it is basically just a block of text that is rarely broken up by anything else of interest.

Krasner-Khait attempts to present the entire history of the library in a few pages, which is no easy task. Libraries have existed in some form for nearly as long as civilization has existed. Though outwardly the first libraries only bare a marginal resemblance to today’s familiar public libraries, the basic idea of a place existing to store a culture’s combine knowledge (what Krasner-Khait calls a “repository for knowledge”) is much the same. In Mesopotamia, for example, archeologists have discovered a “library” that contains 30,000 clay tablets and is over 5,000 years old!

There were other early “libraries” in ancient Egypt and Assyria, but it was not until the time of the ancient Greeks that they became more prevalent. The appearance of libraries was mostly a result of the Greek interest in a flourishing cultural and intellectual life. The Library of Alexandria was established around 300 BC for many of the same reasons. King Ptolemy I and his successors had many goals for the library, including a desire to obtain half a million scrolls. One of the most interesting things about the Library of Alexandria section of the article, was the supposition that the Ptolemies “engaged in unorthodox…methods” when acquiring scrolls for the library. This contrasts interestingly with the more traditional view of the Library of Alexandria as a beacon of almost utopian enlightenment in an otherwise ignorant world. It does not take away from the accomplishment that the Library of Alexandria certainly was, it just makes the story slightly more plausible and a lot more human.

After the destruction of the Library of Alexandria, libraries were reborn in Rome where they again flourished for a time. Though there were certainly “scholarly” libraries in Rome, it was here that the first libraries for the masses appeared. By the year 350 AD, there were at least twenty-nine of these libraries in Rome, and it was considered a great honor to serve as a library director. But despite this widespread interest, when Roman society declined, its libraries were quick to follow the same path.

But all hope was not lost; libraries were reborn yet again. First this happened in the monasteries of Europe, and then again in the Renaissance. The final section of Krasner-Khait’s article is sub-titled “The Golden Age.” This part of the article begins in the1600’s and leads nearly to the present day. She briefly discusses the establishment of some of Europe’s most famous libraries, such as the one at Oxford University, before skipping across an ocean and a few hundred years to talk about the first American libraries. This part of the article seems decidedly rushed; there is no mention of Dewey, the Library of Congress, or the technological changes of the modern library. The Carnegie Libraries are mentioned, but they are dealt with in a single sentence.

I felt the rushed quality of the last section was sort of indicative of one of the issues I had with the article overall. Although the article attempted to be an overview of the entire history of the library, this is not practically possible when you are covering some 7,000 years in roughly five pages. Because of limitations of space, some parts of the article had to be less in depth than others. In this case the final 500 years or so were especially briefly discussed, and no section was incredibly thorough. In addition, it would have been interesting to read about libraries in the present. The present, after all, is the continuation of history. And though I realize this would have been impossible in the original History Magazine article, I think that it would have been interesting to update the article by taking advantage of some of the internet’s capabilities. Perhaps links could have been added to each sub-section of the article, to allow people to learn more about specific sections they found interesting. I am certainly not claiming that Krasner-Khait’s article is insufficient or factually flawed, but it is prudent to say it would only be truly helpful for a general population with a casual interest in libraries. For example, I have worked in a library for nearly seven years, which is why I wanted to present on this website. But if I had to write a research paper on the subject of libraries, I certainly would use other websites.

Finally, there are two interesting themes that the article raises. The overall thesis of the article is that libraries, though perhaps not universal, have great staying power. Though they have changed dramatically, and though they have gone in and out of fashion, libraries have survived. 30,000 clay tablets in ancient Mesopotamia may not seem to have a lot in common with the Undergraduate Library, but they have much the same purpose. The other theme is related to this idea, but it is more subtle. Krasner-Khait implies that the creation of libraries is intimately connected to the quality of a society. Libraries seem to be linked to civilization itself. Though this may at first seem to be overstepping a bit, it is really not that far-fetched. The acquisition and sharing of knowledge, literacy, and intellectual interests are all linked to the creation and support of libraries. And as we have been learning this semester, these are things that are capable of altering man’s relationship with God, government, his neighbors, and himself. Certainly an intellectual life, and by extension libraries, are essential to any developed civilization.