Happy National Library Lovers Month to all our library patrons. February is an important month for those who work in libraries, and those patrons who love their libraries. Libraries play a key role in communities, acting as a repository of information, from hard bound books to digital archives, libraries contain a wealth of information that is sometimes, underutilized. Libraries offer not only book loans, but book sales, reference staff to provide hard to find information, computer usage and digital resources, printing, copying, faxing, internet browsing, various virtual programs, (hopefully face to face again in the future) and local history research. Libraries literally are a community resource that can even help with basic resume building, navigating job searches, applying for assistance, and more. Libraries truly enrich people’s lives, and work with the community to offer a wide variety of services in order to do so. Whether you want a hard bound book, magazine, or newspaper or simply want to further your academic aspirations and continue your latest research project, libraries connect the world to you.
Back in the day, libraries were thought to be for scholars, or book worms, but in reality libraries have been misunderstood! Since ancient times, scribes have kept records in the earliest recorded writings on clay tablets. These were attempts to collect, categorize, acquire materials and documents and put into working collections for people to better understand. What was the main purpose? To keep administrative records, transaction information, government orders, military conquests and budgetary expenditures; later uses developed as a secondary function to gather a wealth of information on scientific and historical subjects. Later recordings were written on papyrus scrolls, and on to parchment and printed paper and now in digital formats.
Ancient times also gave birth to outstanding libraries, such as the great Library of Alexandria in Egypt, a royal library for the educated public that mostly had private collections, and was noted as the most famous body of scientific knowledge at its height. The first public libraries, however, were not established until the beginning of the rule of the Roman Empire. The first national library was founded in 1753 and is now part of the British Museum, with a collection of curiosities for the museum as well as books, letters, scrolls, and medical information for the library.
Today there are different types of libraries, including monastic libraries (for clergy), imperial libraries for royalty, patriarchal libraries (theology, philosophical and religious studies), subscription libraries (members only) and of course, smaller private libraries owned by the wealthy. Today, libraries are much removed from the stuffy stacks of dusty books we might think of, and offer a more comfortable and relaxing atmosphere for patrons. The public as a whole now has access to a digital card catalog, and what a change from the note cards in drawers of catalogs of long ago …
Libraries throughout history deserve the respect they have earned. Some of my best and earliest memories from childhood are going to the library — a fact that has not changed. I treasure books and knowledge, and being able to work for my local library demonstrates my Library Love all year long. From young to old, libraries have something for everyone.
Stephanie Morrissette is a library assistant at the Reference and Local History Department of the Crawfordsville District Public Library.
