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The first libraries held clay tablets with information imprinted into them.
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Medieval libraries held some of the first actual books, and they were mainly in monasteries, as religious organizations found that keeping texts around was beneficial.
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The Counsel of Paris made it so that anyone who was in need of the written word could not be denied it in a library.
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More and more universities collected books as literacy rates grew higher.
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The printing press made it so books could be mass produced, so more and more libraries appeared and more libraries that already existed collected more books than what they had.
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As soon as America was colonized, people were being taught to read, so they could be of help to this newfound society.
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Library companies, who sold stocks to keep their library open, started to pop up and make books more open to the public. This also made Louis Timothee the first librarian in America.
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From the 1600s to 1790, the rate at which men could write their names and become literate increased 30%. By 1790, 90% of men could write their names.
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Boston opened the first actual public library to their residents.
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President Lyndon B. Johnson signs an act that sends aid to libraries, so that people may have more easy access to books that contain useful knowledge about the world around them.