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In the 7th century BCE, one of the first libraries was built for Ashurbanipal's personal use.
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The library of Alexandria was the first library open to the public. It was built after the death of Alexander the Great. It would, at its height, house about half a million scrolls. -
The Library at al-Qarawiyyin University is the oldest library that is still around today. The library is in Morocco and was one of the first scholarly libraries rather than a religious one. -
In July of 1731, Benjamin Franklin helped establish the first membership library in America. He along with other members banned together in order to find a way to access more materials to discuss at their weekly meetings.
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Benjamin Franklin also helped establish the first public library in America. He donated a collection of books to a town in Massachusetts whose residents voted for said books to be available to the towns members. -
The founding of the American Library Association was one of the first instances where both men and women were included in library decisions. in 1876, ninety men and thirteen women met to create the mission of the new ALA organization. -
In May 1879, Melvil Dewey was the first to suggest that attached to a normal school with a considerable library there should be a librarians college. In 1883, Dewey proposed to Columbia College that they should have a school of library economy. In 1887, the first library school was established at Columbia College.
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Mary Wright Plummer was one of the founders of the Pratt Institute Library School. She pioneered for children's librarian education. Mary was also the second female president of the ALA. -
Edward Christopher Williams was the first professionally trained African American librarian in the United States. He would double the Western Reserve University library in which he worked. He would also, be one of the first African American men to join the American Library Association. -
The Library Service Act of 1956 put an emphasis on serving rural areas through libraries. This caused a serge of bookmobiles which would help add more than five million books and materials to rural libraries.
