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History of Libraries in the Western World

LIS 61095  (Kent State University)

Summer 2011

Ancient World to 400 CE

The library and its place within society and history

Readings:

• “Reading the Library” Chapter 1 in Matthew Battles Library: An Unquiet History p3-21.

•  Houston, George W. “Tiberius and the Libraries: Public Book Collections and Library Buildings in the Early Roman Empire” Libraries & The Cultural Record 43 No. 3 (September 10, 2008): 247–269. (available through KentLink on EJC)

• Luis Borges, Jorge “The Library of Babel”  from Borges Labyrinths http://jubal.westnet.com/hyperdiscordia/library_of_babel.html

• Simic, Charles. “A Country Without Libraries.” The New York Review of Books 18 May 2011  http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/  What do you think?

Discussion - :

• Lawler, Andrew. “Raising Alexandria.” Smithsonian (April 2007) http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Raising-Alexandria.html

View:

• Carl Sagan – Library of Alexandria on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jixnM7S9tLw&feature=fvst
• New Alexandrian Library http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vZY6nfVIQo
• Lawler, Andrew. “Raising Alexandria.” Smithsonian (April 2007) http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Raising-Alexandria.html

Readings

• “Burning Alexandria” Chapter 2 in Matthew Battles Library: An Unquiet History p22-55.

• Barker, Nicolas “Libraries and the Mind of Man.” In A Potencie of Life: Books in Society. (New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2001): 179-194.

• O'Toole, J. “Herodotus and the Written Record.” Archivaria [Online] 33 No. 1 (1991). http://journals.sfu.ca/archivar/index.php/archivaria/article/view/11806/12757

• Ranasinghe, Rhis. “How Buddhism Influenced the Origin and Development of Libraries in Sri Lanka (Ceylon): From the Third Cenury BC to the Fifth Century AD.” Library History 24 No. 4 (Dec 2008): 307-312. (available through KentLink)

• Hunt, R.W. “The Library of the Abbey of St. Albans.” In Medieval Scribes, Manuscripts & Libraries; Essays Presented to N.R. Ker. Edited by MB. Parkes and Andrew G. Watson. London: Scholar Press, 1978, 251-277.

• Jacob, Christian. “Gathering Memory: Thoughts on the History of Libraries,” Diogenes 49 No. 4 (April 2002): 41-57.

Optional Reading:

• Gamble, Harry Y. “Early Christian Libraries.” Ch. 4 in Books and Readers in the Early Church: A History of Early Christian Texts. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995): 144-202.

• Harris, Michael H. History of Libraries in the Western World. 4^th edition Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1995 Chapters 1-5

Umberto Eco Name of the Rose

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Name_of_the_Rose 

• http://www.critiquemagazine.com/article/umbertoeco.html

• http://www.emory.edu/home/news/releases/2008/09/umberto-eco-delivers-ellman-lectures.html  (there are 4 lectures by Umberto Eco available through their site and iTunes)

Discussion – View of Libraries & Librarians in Umberto Eco’s “The Name of the Rose”

Paper Topic descriptions due

Readings

• “The House of Wisdom” Chapter 3 in Matthew Battles Library: An Unquiet History p56-81.

• Rukanci, Fatih and Hakan Anameric. “Libraries as Scientific, Educational and Cultural Institutions in the Ottoman Empire (XIVth –XVIIth Centuries) Libri 56 No. 4 (Dec 2006): 252-263.

• Clark, J.W. Libraries in the Medieval and Renaissance Periods. Rede Lecture June 13, 1894 (Chicago: Argonaut Inc. Publishers, 1968).

• Scrivner, Bulford. “Carolingian Monastic Library Catalogs and Medieval Classification of Knowledge.” The Journal of Library History 15 No. 4 (Fall, 1980): 427-444 (Available through KentLink)

Optional:

• Harris, Michael H. History of Libraries in the Western World. 4^th edition Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1995 Chapter 6-8

Discussion topics:

How we perceive libraries in Medieval Renaissance times, changes in culture and literacy, importance of printed materials, bibles, books, maps

Readings

• Manley, K.A. “Scottish Circulating and Subscription Libraries as Community Libraries.” Library History 19 No. 3 (Nov 2003): 185-194.

• Kaltwasser, Franz Georg. “The Common Roots of Library and Museum in the Sixteenth Century: The Example of Munich.” Library History 20 No. 3 (Nov 2004): 163-181.

• Roberts, Daphne and Bob Duckett. “The Bradford Library and Literary Society, 1774-1980.” Library History 22 No. 3 (Nov 2006): 213-226.

• Satterley, Renae. “The Libraries of the Inns of Court: An Examination of their Historical Influence.” Library History 24 No. 3 (Sept 2008): 208-219.

• Schwill, Rudolph “An Impression of the Condition of Spanish American Libraries.” Modern Language Notes 20 No. 5 (1905): 142-145 (also available through JSTOR)

Optional Readings:

• Harris, Michael H. History of Libraries in the Western World. 4^th edition Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1995 Chapter 9

Discussion “Da Vinci Code” and its use of libraries

• Giuseppe Arcimboldo http://www.abcgallery.com/A/arcimboldo/arcimboldo9.html
• Jacob Soll talking about Libraries during the Enlightenment  -on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOJP0HijXD4

Readings

• “Books for All” Chapter 5 in Matthew Battles Library: An Unquiet History p117-155.

• A.S. Popowich, “Carlyle, Panizzi, and the Public Library Ideal,” Library Student Journal (Feb 2007) on e-reserve

• Koch, Theodore W. “The Bibliothèque Nationale: Organization and History.” Library Journal 39 (May 1914): 339-350.

• Sturges, Paul. “Great City Libraries of Britain: Their History from a European Perspective.” Library History19 No. 2 (July 2003): 93-111.

• Guerrini, Mauro “Libraries in Italy: A Brief Overview.” IFLA Journal 35 No. 2 (2009): 94-116. http://ifl.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/35/2/94

• Mendelsohn, Daniel. “God’s Librarians: The Vatican Library Enters the Twenty-First Century.” The New Yorker (Jan. 3, 2011): 24-30. [available on KentLink]

• "A Visit to the Vatican Library" CBS Sixty Minutes 3 July 2011 http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7372166n

Optional Readings:

• Reid, Peter H. “The Decline and Fall of the British Country House Library.” Libraries & Culture 36 No. 2 (Spring 2001): 345-366.[available through Kentlink]

• Buckridge, Patrick. “Generations of Books: A Tasmanian Family Library, 1816-1994” Library Quarterly 76 No. 4 (Oct 2006): 388-402.

• Harris, Michael H. History of Libraries in the Western World. 4^th edition Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1995 Chapter 11

Readings

• “The Battle for the Books” Chapter 4 in Matthew Battles Library: An Unquiet History p82-116.

• Franklin, Benjamin – foundations of the Junta Society in Philadelphia http://www.juntosociety.com/about.html

• Shera, Jesse H. “The Beginnings of the Public Library,” Chapter 6 in Foundations of the Public Library: The Origins of the Public Library Movement in New England 1629-1855, (Shoestring Press, 1965): 156-199.

• Glynn, Tom. “The New York Society Library: Books, Authority, and Publics in Colonial and Early Republican New York.” Libraries & Culture 40 No. 4. (Fall 2005): 493-529. [available through Kentlink]

• William J. Van Beynum, “The Book-Company of Durham,” Library History Seminar No. 3 Proceedings, 1968, (Tallahassee, FL: School of Library Science Florida State University, 1968): 73-97

Optional Readings:

• Harris, Michael H. History of Libraries in the Western World. 4^th edition Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1995 Chapter 10

Readings

• Cole, John Y. “Jefferson’s Legacy: A Brief History of the Library of Congress” http://www.loc.gov/loc/legacy/

• Lawrence W. Towner, “The Newberry Library: A Research Opportunity in Library History,” Library History Seminar No. 3 Proceedings, 1968, (Tallahassee, FL: School of Library Science Florida State University, 1968): 1-16.

• Bird, Jr., William L. “A Suggestion Concerning James Smithson’s Concept of ‘Increase and Diffusion’,” Technology and Culture 24 No. 4 (April 1983): 246-255.

• Glasgow, Eric. “The Huntington Library.” Library History 20 No. 1 (March 2004): 69-74.

• Lopresti, Robert and August A. Imholtz. “’Reckless and Unwarranted Inferences’: The U.S. House Library Scandal of 1861” Library and Information History 27, no. 1 (March 2011): 3–16 [avail. Through KentLink]

Optional Reading:

• Cole, John Y. “The Library of Congress Becomes a World Library, 1815-2005.” Libraries & Culture: Historical Essays Honoring the Legacy of Donald G. Davis, Jr. ed. Cheryl Knott Malone, Hermina G.B, Anghelescu, and John Mark Tucker. (Washington, DC: Library of Congress Center for the Book, 2006): 163-176 / Special Issue of Libraries & Culture 40 No. 3 (Summer 2005) [available thru KentLink and e-reserves]
• Harris, Michael H. History of Libraries in the Western World. 4^th edition Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1995 Chapter 12

Loss of LOC in 1812

Jefferson’s library

 Encyclopedia of the Library of Congress : for Congress, the Nation & the World. John Y. Cole and Jane Aikin, editors Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress ; Lanham, MD : Bernan Press, c2004

Webcast by John Y Cole "A History of the Library of Congress" Library of Congress Webcast - Library Docent Training  http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=5058

Public Libraries, Subscription Libraries, University Libraries

Readings

• Liebaers, Herman. “The Impact of American and European Librarianship Upon Each Other.” Libraries and the Life of the Mind in America. Chicago: American Library Association, 1997, 67-83.

• “Temples for the People: Largess for Learning at Philadelphia’s Carnegie Libraries.” Common Ground (Spring 2010): 6-11. (on e-reserve)

• Streitfeld, David. “Anger as a Private Company Takes Over Libraries.” NYT 26 Sept 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/business/27libraries.html

• Javersak, David T. “One Place on this Great Green Planet Where Andrew Carnegie Can’t Get a Monument with His Money.” West Virginia History 41 (1979): 7-19 (on e-reserve)

• Trubek, Anne. "What Muncie Read." New York Times (Nov 23, 2011) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/books/review/what-muncie-read.html

• Wiegand, Wayne. "The Morris Public Library of Morris, Illinois, 1913-1953" Journal of Illinois History 13 No. 4 (Winter 2010)

• Sherman, Scott. "Upheaval at the New York Public Library." The Nation (Nov 30, 2011) http://www.thenation.com/article/164881/upheaval-new-york-public-library

Optional Reading:

• Augenbraum, Harold. “New York’s Oldest Public Libraries.” RBM 1 No. 2 (Fall 2000): 145-159 http://rbm.acrl.org/content/1/2.toc   

  • New York Society Library  - charging ledger - images of the first ledger listing borrowers and books - http://www.nysoclib.org/ledger/

• Arenson, Adam. “Libraries in Public before the Ages of Public Libraries; Interpreting the Furnishings and Design of Athenaeums and Other ‘Social Libraries,’ 1800-1860.” In The Library as Place: History, Community, and Culture Edited by John E. Buschman and Gloria J. Leckie. (Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2007): 41-60.
• Lorenzen, Michael. “Deconstructing the Carnegie Libraries.” Illinois Libraries 81 No. 2 (Spring 1999): 75-78 http://www.lib.niu.edu/1999/il990275.html

What's the Deal: New York Public Library http://www.nbcnewyork.com/station/as-seen-on/What_s_the_Deal__New_York_Public_Library_New_York.html

Bill and Melinda Gates, Warren Buffett  6 Billion Dollar Challenge - Philanthropy and libraries http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2010/06/16/gates-buffett-600-billion-dollar-philanthropy-challenge/

Middletown (Muncie) Public Library http://www.bsu.edu/libraries/wmr/

Who You Gonna Call? (Improv Everywhere _NYPL)    http://youtu.be/wKB7zfopiUA

Readings

• “Knowledge on Fire” Chapter 6 in Matthew Battles Library: An Unquiet History p156-191

• Kim, Chin. “A New National Library: The National Diet Library of Japan.” The Journal of Library History IV No. 3 (July 1969): 225-238.

• Wani, Zahid Ashraf. “Development of Public Libraries in India.” Library Philosophy and Practice (2008) available through Kentlink or http://unllib.unl.edu/LPP/wani.htm 

• Sturgeon, Roy L. “Preserving the past, preparing for the future: Modern Chinese libraries and librarianship 1898-2000s.” World Libraries 14 No. 1 (Fall 2004) http://www.worlib.org/vol14no1/sturg_v14n1.shtml

• Schwill, Rudolph. “Impression of the Condition of Spanish American Libraries.” Modern Language Notes 20 No. 5 (May 1905): 142-145.  

• Link to info & slides re: Dunhuang Project compiled by Dr. Zeng http://www.slis.kent.edu/~mzeng/Dunhuang/libraryhistory.htm

Timbuktu Libraries

• http://www.sum.uio.no/timbuktu/

• http://www.timbuktufoundation.org/libraries.html
• manuscripts from the libraries at Timbuktu at the Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/mali/
• Articles in World Libraries http://www.worlib.org/

·        Dynasties in Chinese history, from Wikipedia. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynasties_in_Chinese_history

·        The Mellon International Dunhuang Archive (MIDA) http://www.artstor.org/what-is-artstor/w-html/col-mellon-dunhuang.shtml High-quality digital reconstructions of the mural paintings and related art and texts associated with the several hundred Buddhist cave shrines in Dunhuang, China, a uniquely important cultural crossroads on the ancient Silk Route in the Gobi Desert.

·        International Dunhuang Project (IDP) http://idp.bl.uk/

Images of the Cairo Geniza

• http://modiya.nyu.edu/modiya/handle/1964/165/
• Geniza Project http://www.genizah.org/index.htm

Final Paper Due

Essays about Thought Questions Due

Readings

• “Lost in the Stacks” Chapter 7 in Matthew Battles Library: An Unquiet History p192-214.

• Given, Lisa M. and Lianne McTavish. “What’s Old is New Again: The Recovergence of Libraries, Archives, and Museums in the Digital Age.” The Library Quarterly 80 No. 1 (Jan 2010): 7-32 [available through KentLink]

• Levy, Steven. “The Future of Reading” (Amazon and Kindle) Newsweek 150 Issue 22 (26 Nov 2007): 57-64 (available through KentLink)

• Shaw, Jonathan. “Gutenberg 2.0 Harvard’s libraries deal with disruptive change.” Harvard Magazine (May-June 2010): 36-41, 82-83. available online at http://harvardmagazine.com/2010/05/gutenberg-2-0 

• Lippman, Walter. “The Museum of the Future.” Atlantic Monthly 182, no. 4 (October 1948): 70-72. Printed version of a talk he gave at the AAM annual meeting in 1948. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1969/12/the-museum-of-the-future/6626/2/ 

OPTIONAL:

• Pennavaria, Katherine. “Representations of Books and Libraries in Depictions of the Future.” Libraries & Culture 37 No. 2 (Summer 2002): 229-248. [available through KentLink]

Videos of Libraries of the Future

 BBC Spencer Kelly's report "Do e-books spell the end of lending libraries?" 11 March 2011  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9422250.stm

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