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The earliest libraries in recorded history existed approximately 5000 years ago, in a country known as Sumer, in 3000 B.C. Sumer was located in present-day Iraq. Sumerian libraries were government records centers, used to store documents on everything from food supplies to legal documents. The documents were clay tablets, inscribed while wet and then fired
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Johannes Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press, making book production faster, easier, and cheaper
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For the first time, books became available to common people, not just the clergy or the ruling classes
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Gutenberg produced his edition of the Bible in 1454-5. It was the first mechanically-produced book in history. Wide availability of this and other Bibles helped initiate the Reformation.
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Settlers brought their private libraries to America. Harvard University established the first North American institutional library in 1638.
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In 1800, Congress officially established the Library of Congress. Thomas Jefferson donates his personal library to replace the library’s original collection, lost during the War of 1812 (Continue to scroll) LOC now houses approximately 151 million items. It serves as the research library for the U.S. Congress.
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As more immigrants entered the U.S. in the 19th & early-20th centuries, libraries provided citizenship, reading, and English classes to new & first-generation citizens.
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The New York Public Library was established in 1895, combining the private Lenox and Astor Libraries.
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The introduction of the personal computer and the Internet transformed how libraries acquired & distributed information.
