The Library

The Library PDF Author: Arthur der Weduwen
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1788163443
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 425

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Book Description
LONGLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS' ASSOCIATION NON-FICTION CROWN A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A sweeping, absorbing history, deeply researched, of that extraordinary and enduring phenomenon: the library' Richard Ovenden, author of Burning the Books: A History of Knowledge under Attack Famed across the known world, jealously guarded by private collectors, built up over centuries, destroyed in a single day, ornamented with gold leaf and frescoes or filled with bean bags and children's drawings - the history of the library is rich, varied and stuffed full of incident. In this, the first major history of its kind, Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen explore the contested and dramatic history of the library, from the famous collections of the ancient world to the embattled public resources we cherish today. Along the way, they introduce us to the antiquarians and philanthropists who shaped the world's great collections, trace the rise and fall of fashions and tastes, and reveal the high crimes and misdemeanours committed in pursuit of rare and valuable manuscripts.

The Library

The Library PDF Author: Arthur der Weduwen
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1788163443
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 425

Get Book Here

Book Description
LONGLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS' ASSOCIATION NON-FICTION CROWN A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A sweeping, absorbing history, deeply researched, of that extraordinary and enduring phenomenon: the library' Richard Ovenden, author of Burning the Books: A History of Knowledge under Attack Famed across the known world, jealously guarded by private collectors, built up over centuries, destroyed in a single day, ornamented with gold leaf and frescoes or filled with bean bags and children's drawings - the history of the library is rich, varied and stuffed full of incident. In this, the first major history of its kind, Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen explore the contested and dramatic history of the library, from the famous collections of the ancient world to the embattled public resources we cherish today. Along the way, they introduce us to the antiquarians and philanthropists who shaped the world's great collections, trace the rise and fall of fashions and tastes, and reveal the high crimes and misdemeanours committed in pursuit of rare and valuable manuscripts.

Early Public Libraries and Colonial Citizenship in the British Southern Hemisphere

Early Public Libraries and Colonial Citizenship in the British Southern Hemisphere PDF Author: Lara Atkin
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 303020426X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 167

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Book Description
This open access Pivot book is a comparative study of six early colonial public libraries in nineteenth-century Australia, South Africa, and Southeast Asia. Drawing on networked conceptualisations of empire, transnational frameworks, and ‘new imperial history’ paradigms that privilege imbricated colonial and metropolitan ‘intercultures’, it looks at the neglected role of public libraries in shaping a programme of Anglophone civic education, scientific knowledge creation, and modernisation in the British southern hemisphere. The book’s six chapters analyse institutional models and precedents, reading publics and types, book holdings and catalogues, and regional scientific networks in order to demonstrate the significance of these libraries for the construction of colonial identity, citizenship, and national self-government as well as charting their influence in shaping perceptions of social class, gender, and race. Using primary source material from the recently completed ‘Book Catalogues of the Colonial Southern Hemisphere’ digital archive, the book argues that public libraries played a formative role in colonial public discourse, contributing to broader debates on imperial citizenship and nation-statehood across different geographic, cultural, and linguistic borders.

Part of Our Lives

Part of Our Lives PDF Author: Wayne A. Wiegand
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0190248009
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
Challenges conventional thinking and top-down definitions, instead drawing on the library user's perspective to argue that the public library's most important function is providing commonplace reading materials and public space. Challenges a professional ethos about public libraries and their responsibilities to fight censorship and defend intellectual freedom. Demonstrates that the American public library has been (with some notable exceptions) a place that welcomed newcomers, accepted diversity, and constructed community since the end of the 19th century. Shows how stories that cultural authorities have traditionally disparaged- i.e. books that are not "serious"- have often been transformative for public library users.

Books on Fire

Books on Fire PDF Author: Lucien X. Polastron
Publisher: Lucien X. POLASTRON
ISBN: 9781594771675
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
Almost as old as the idea of the library is the urge to destroy it. Author Lucien X. Polastron traces the history of this destruction, examining the causes for these disasters, the treasures that have been lost, and where the surviving books, if any, have ended up. Books on Fire received the 2004 Societe des Gens de Lettres Prize for Nonfiction/History in Paris.

A Social History of Books and Libraries from Cuneiform to Bytes

A Social History of Books and Libraries from Cuneiform to Bytes PDF Author: Patrick M. Valentine
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 0810885719
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
While the importance of writing has often been recognized, the role of books and especially that of libraries has just as often been slighted. Knowledge, once generated, has to be communicated, preserved, and accessible. Books in their varying formats—from clay tablets to scrolls and manuscripts to pixels—have been instrumental in spreading knowledge, although relatively little attention has been given to the story of books themselves. A Social History of Books and Libraries from Cuneiform to Bytes traces the roles of books and libraries throughout recorded history and explores their social and cultural importance within differing societies and changing times. It presents the history of books from clay tablets to e-books and the history of libraries, whether built of bricks or bytes. Following an introduction that sets the theoretical basis for the historical importance of books and libraries, chapters alternate between the history of the book and the history of libraries. Included within the chapters are short excursions on some particular development, such as book emblems or cataloging. Case studies are given as thematic illustrations of libraries everywhere. Patrick M. Valentine argues that social and cultural forces have been more influential in determining the nature and status of information, books, and libraries than has technology. But A Social History of Books and Libraries is far from a jeremiad against technology; rather it presents history within the subtle yet shifting context of time and place. Although written primarily for librarians and library students, it will also be of interest to a wider audience of scholars and those interested in books, libraries, and cultural history.

Carnegie Libraries Across America

Carnegie Libraries Across America PDF Author: Theodore Jones
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
And with the help of original documents, including letters of petition by schoolteachers, bankers, and civic leaders from across the United States, he provides valuable insights into life in turn-of-the-century American towns and the values and aspirations of their citizens.

Public Libraries in the U.S.

Public Libraries in the U.S. PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Public libraries
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description


Ancient Libraries

Ancient Libraries PDF Author: Jason König
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107244587
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 501

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Book Description
The circulation of books was the motor of classical civilization. However, books were both expensive and rare, and so libraries - private and public, royal and civic - played key roles in articulating intellectual life. This collection, written by an international team of scholars, presents a fundamental reassessment of how ancient libraries came into being, how they were organized and how they were used. Drawing on papyrology and archaeology, and on accounts written by those who read and wrote in them, it presents new research on reading cultures, on book collecting and on the origins of monumental library buildings. Many of the traditional stories told about ancient libraries are challenged. Few were really enormous, none were designed as research centres, and occasional conflagrations do not explain the loss of most ancient texts. But the central place of libraries in Greco-Roman culture emerges more clearly than ever.

Before the Public Library

Before the Public Library PDF Author: Mark Towsey
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004348670
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
Before the Public Library explores the emergence of community-based lending libraries in the Atlantic World before the advent of the Public Library movement in the mid-nineteenth century. Essays by eighteen scholars from a range of disciplines seek to place, for the first time, community libraries within an Atlantic context over a two-century period. Taking a comparative approach, this volume shows that community libraries played an important – and largely unrecognized – role in shaping Atlantic social networks, political and religious movements, scientific and geographic knowledge, and economic enterprise. Libraries had a distinct role to play in shaping modern identities through the acquisition and circulation of specific kinds of texts, the fostering of sociability, and the building of community-based institutions.

The New Public Library

The New Public Library PDF Author: R. Thomas Hille
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429831412
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 952

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Book Description
The New Public Library is an in-depth design study of an exemplary collection of recent public libraries, and the historical precedents that have informed and inspired their development. An introductory overview presents seven critical themes that characterize public library design, past and present, highlighting the expressive architectural potential of this unique and important building type. A survey of over 40 historically significant libraries traces the development of the building type over time, with a primary focus on precedents from the US and northern Europe, where the modern public library originated, and its design has been most comprehensively developed. A selection of nearly 50 contemporary projects from the past 30 years focuses on the most current developments in public library design, with a diverse and varied collection of work by over 35 regional, national, and international design firms. Highly visual in its presentation, the study includes 885 color photographs and illustrations, and 195 scale drawings.