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A public library is a library which is accessible by the public and is often operated by civil servants and funded from public sources.

Public libraries exist in most nations of the world and are considered an essential part of having an educated and literate population. American businessman Andrew Carnegie donated the money for the building of thousands of Carnegie libraries in English-speaking countries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In addition to books and periodicals, most public libraries today have a wide array of other media including CDs, software, video tapes, and DVDs and facilities to use internet.

Andrew Carnegie was a major contributor to many small-town libraries throughout the country.

Many public libraries around the world pay authors for having books in libraries. These are known as Public Lending RightA Public Lending Right program is one which pays authors for having works in public libraries. Fifteen countries have a PLR program, and others are considering adopting one. Canada, the United Kingdom, all the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Austria, Bel programs.

1 Origins of the Public Library as a Social Institution

The origins of the public library as a social institution have not been well explored or recorded. Many claims have been made for the title of "first public library" for various libraries in various countries, with at least some of the confusion arising from differing interpretations of what should be considered a true "public library". Difficulties in establishing what policies were in effect at different times in the history of particular libraries also adds to the confusion.

The first libraries to be open to the public were the collections of Greek and Latin scrollScroll can have different meanings: A scroll is a roll of parchment, papyrus, or paper which has been drawn or written upon. Compare codex. Scrolling is a term that describes the continuous movement of text/graphics over a screen or display window.s which were available in the dry sections of the many buildings that made up the huge Roman baths of the Roman empire. However, they were not lending libraries, with a few exceptions only. The "halls of science" run by different islamic sects in many cities of North Africa and the Middle East in the 9th century were open to the public. Some of them had written lending policies, but they were very restrictive. Most patrons were expected to consult the books in situ.

A selection of significant claims made for early libraries operating in a way at least partly analogous to the modern public library is listed below by country and then date order.

1.1 United States of America

In his unconventional history The Tribes and the States William James SidisWilliam James Sidis (1898-1944) was an eccentric genius and child prodigy, famous in the United States of America at the beginning of the 20th century but now virtually unknown. Sidis was born to Jewish Russian immigrant parents, Boris and Sarah Sidis, wh claims the public library as an American invention and states that the first town library was established in Boston, Massachusetts in 1636Events February 24 King Christian of Denmark gives an order that all beggars that are able to work must be sent to Brinholmen Island to build ships or as galley rowers March 26 Utrecht University founded in The Netherlands. September 8 A vote of the Great.
The St. Phillips Church Parsonage Provincial Library, established in 1698Events January 4 Palace of Whitehall in London is destroyed by fire. June 19 Volcano of Carguarazon erupts in the Andes and causes a rain of fish August 25 Peter the Great arrives back to Moscow general Gordon has already crushed the streltsy rebellion 34 in Charleston, South Carolina
The Library Company of Philadelphia was founded in 1731Events 10 Downing Street becomes the official residence of the United Kingdom's Prime Minister when Robert Walpole moves in. Births May 8 Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London, abolitionist (died 1809) June 21 Martha Washington October 10 Henry Cavendish, Engl by Benjamin Franklin and a group of his friends (the Junto) as a means to settle arguments. The subscription library was born. A subscription library allowed inviduals to buy "shares." The money raised from the sell of shares went into buying more books. A member or shareholder then had rights to use the library. The Library Company, which may have been the first truely public library (members could actually borrow books), is still in existence as a nonprofit, independent research library. [1]
A library founded in 1833 in Peterborough, New Hampshire [2]
The Boston Public Library [3]
The Franklin, Massachusetts public library [4]

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