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The Meaning of the Library: A Cultural History
The importance of the library, from ancient times to the digital eraFrom Greek and Roman times to the digital era, the library has remained central to knowledge, scholarship, and the imagination. The Meaning of the Library is a generously illustrated examination of this key institution of Western culture. Tracing what the library has meant since its beginning, examining how its significance has shifted, and pondering its importance in the twenty-first century, notable contributors—including the Librarian of Congress and the former executive director of the HathiTrust—present a cultural history of the library. In an informative introduction, Alice Crawford sets out the book's purpose and scope, and an international array of scholars, librarians, writers, and critics offer vivid perspectives about the library through their chosen fields. The Meaning of the Library will appeal to all who are interested in this vital institution's heritage and ongoing legacy.
326 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 23, 2015
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August 31, 2015
The library, like the symphony orchestra, has always seemed to me to be one of the towering accomplishments of civilization. The Meaning of the Library: A Cultural History, a collection of essays edited by Alice Crawford, is a marvelous survey of Western libraries and books from Greek and Roman times to today. Crawford is digital humanities research librarian at the King James Library at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and the essays were commissioned to mark the 400th anniversary of the library.
It is a lovely book, handsomely designed with endnotes, author bios, bibliography, index, and an eight-page, four-color insert—illustrations of ancient and medieval book cabinets. The essays consider the social roles libraries have played across the age, as centers for scholarship, mazes, sanctuaries, archives, and repositories for hidden wisdom. As Crawford writes in her introduction, "Although they are arranged to follow the library's development through history, the essays aim to offer simply glimpses of what libraries were like at these times rather than a comprehensive history. They focus on what libraries were used for, why they were needed, why they were meaningful to the various communities from which they emerged, and provide impressions rather than analyses of their value in the changing chronological contexts."
Edith Hall, Professor of Classics at Kings College London, opens the book by noting that our first certain literary response to a library is in a raucous comedy by Aristophanes, first performed in 425 B.C. The book closes with an essay by James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, who argues that "librarians are becoming more rather than less important in this new age of instant electronic communication; and libraries as places have a key role to play in building and sustaining participatory and accountable democratic societies—the kind that have historically not fought one another." In between these two essays, we read about the growth of community libraries in England and Scotland, the library in fiction from Gilgamesh to Borges, the library in film (think "Ghostbusters"), the library in poetry, and more.
At least two profound shifts have affected the library in history. The first was the invention of printing and movable type. With the spread of printed books—inexpensive compared to hand-copied codexes—a library was no longer a way for Europe's richest to flaunt their wealth and culture.
We're in the middle of the second shift: the rise of the internet and digital copies. This means that something like the HathiTrust, founded only in October 2008 as a consortium of research libraries, now has more than 11 million volumes and is one of the 10 largest research library collections in North America.
As a novelist, I was particularly interested in rise of community libraries in 19th century England. The worthies in charge saw the institution as a tool of edification and moral enlightenment. Novels were a problem. Narrative fiction "seemed to be so constructed by manipulative and morally bankrupt authors as to sensationalize or whitewash bad behavior and encourage emotional incontinence among readers through blatant titillation. The other worry, closely related to the first, was that such literature was also simultaneously much more likely to appeal to and therefore to lead astray those vulnerable readers with the weakest constitutions, specifically women, the young, and—a fascinating Georgian perception—servants, as a consequence threatening not just public morality but also the social and political order." Shades of Seduction of the Innocent.
Clearly The Meaning of the Library is not a book for everyone. But for those of us who love books and have long loved libraries it is a stimulating and fascinating survey of "the library" in Western culture.
It is a lovely book, handsomely designed with endnotes, author bios, bibliography, index, and an eight-page, four-color insert—illustrations of ancient and medieval book cabinets. The essays consider the social roles libraries have played across the age, as centers for scholarship, mazes, sanctuaries, archives, and repositories for hidden wisdom. As Crawford writes in her introduction, "Although they are arranged to follow the library's development through history, the essays aim to offer simply glimpses of what libraries were like at these times rather than a comprehensive history. They focus on what libraries were used for, why they were needed, why they were meaningful to the various communities from which they emerged, and provide impressions rather than analyses of their value in the changing chronological contexts."
Edith Hall, Professor of Classics at Kings College London, opens the book by noting that our first certain literary response to a library is in a raucous comedy by Aristophanes, first performed in 425 B.C. The book closes with an essay by James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, who argues that "librarians are becoming more rather than less important in this new age of instant electronic communication; and libraries as places have a key role to play in building and sustaining participatory and accountable democratic societies—the kind that have historically not fought one another." In between these two essays, we read about the growth of community libraries in England and Scotland, the library in fiction from Gilgamesh to Borges, the library in film (think "Ghostbusters"), the library in poetry, and more.
At least two profound shifts have affected the library in history. The first was the invention of printing and movable type. With the spread of printed books—inexpensive compared to hand-copied codexes—a library was no longer a way for Europe's richest to flaunt their wealth and culture.
We're in the middle of the second shift: the rise of the internet and digital copies. This means that something like the HathiTrust, founded only in October 2008 as a consortium of research libraries, now has more than 11 million volumes and is one of the 10 largest research library collections in North America.
As a novelist, I was particularly interested in rise of community libraries in 19th century England. The worthies in charge saw the institution as a tool of edification and moral enlightenment. Novels were a problem. Narrative fiction "seemed to be so constructed by manipulative and morally bankrupt authors as to sensationalize or whitewash bad behavior and encourage emotional incontinence among readers through blatant titillation. The other worry, closely related to the first, was that such literature was also simultaneously much more likely to appeal to and therefore to lead astray those vulnerable readers with the weakest constitutions, specifically women, the young, and—a fascinating Georgian perception—servants, as a consequence threatening not just public morality but also the social and political order." Shades of Seduction of the Innocent.
Clearly The Meaning of the Library is not a book for everyone. But for those of us who love books and have long loved libraries it is a stimulating and fascinating survey of "the library" in Western culture.
May 4, 2017
I learned so many golden tidbits of library-related history in this gem of a collection. Poems exist in which books mourn their dead keepers. The first, oldest public library in London is where Marx writes the Communist Manifesto. And the librarian king Borges features heavily!
December 7, 2015
Fascinating entreaties to the depth and breadth of libraries in culture. From erotic literature willed in perpetuity, to the digitization of disintegrating relics, the library will always have a lofty ideological position amid the suburban sprawl and decay in which they often sit.
December 3, 2017
At the risk of looking uncultured, I just couldn't get through this one. I work at, and adore working at a library, but many of these essays weren't as engaging as I had hoped. I read a few that were enjoyable, but most were complicated and hard to push through (while also retaining the information). Sadly had hoped for better.
September 4, 2019
I was planning on giving this 5 stars. It is clearly an academic text and excels for what it is. Until the last chapter. The last chapter has not dated well since the book was published. Overall the book gives a fascinating look into the history of libraries and how libraries have been depicted in movies, books, poetry and other forms of cultural communication. I would recommend this book to any librarian or academic in general. Reading the last chapter is optional.
December 28, 2015
Collection of essays, covering libraries from classical antiquity to the present. Some are a little dry, but there were interesting bits throughout.
July 5, 2017
Crawford has gathered a chronological collection of essays that provide an overview of library history. Lots of interesting information here!
May 18, 2018
No matter whether you are a library user, or a library professional, you are bound to find something that satisfies your curiosity, or that tweaks your interest, in Alice Crawford’s collection of essays entitled The Meaning of the Library: A Cultural History.
Spanning a wide range of topics to do with libraries, the work is separated into three parts: “The Library through Time”; “The Library in Imagination”; and “The Library Now and in the Future”. Being both a librarian by profession and a cultural historian of sorts (by dint of having studied the Cultural History of Western Europe for three years at undergraduate level), I chose to home in on “The Library in Imagination,” and I was definitely not disappointed.
The wide grasp of the subject, and the depth of the insights, was astounding. From Marina Warner’s acknowledgement of the seminal value of the Epic of Gilgamesh, through Robert Crawford’s exploration of the librarian as ennobled and immortalized in poetry (and I can think of a number of librarians who would love to be so remembered), to Laura Marcus’s pursuit of the image of the haunted library and the library as labyrinth (with special focus, much to my delight, being paid to the library as presented in all its convolutions and Mediaeval ramifications in The Name of the Rose), the authors never fail to intrigue and enlighten. Not only are the contributors all experts in their field, but they are also such excellent writers that one can truly savor each word and sentence that they write.
Their rhapsodical descriptions embody the mystery that lies at the core of the library as phenomenon stretching down the ages. For instance, Warner draws attention to the “way of making [which] is important with regard to the library in fiction, viewed not only as a particular place where single titles or book-objects have been collected, but as a metaphor for literature itself, a polyphony of voices, laid down on multiple tracks, looping and converging over time, sometimes over great vistas of time.” In short, the richness and wealth of information that is embodied in library collections is brought only honor and memorableness in this text.
Whoever thought of a library as being a prosaic and stuffy old place that bears little relevance to the current digital age must definitely think again. Rounding off the work with an acknowledgement of the significance of libraries even in the modern day and age, given by Library of Congress James H. Billington, tribute is paid to the role of the library as a purveyor of knowledge that is geared towards satisfying mankind’s ongoing search for the truth. The Meaning of the Library: A Cultural History is a riveting and deeply satisfying work that is bound to leave the reader not only far more aware of the sociocultural importance of the institution as a reservoir of heritage and learning, but also inspired to think of issues that lie beyond the earthly and temporal realm.
Spanning a wide range of topics to do with libraries, the work is separated into three parts: “The Library through Time”; “The Library in Imagination”; and “The Library Now and in the Future”. Being both a librarian by profession and a cultural historian of sorts (by dint of having studied the Cultural History of Western Europe for three years at undergraduate level), I chose to home in on “The Library in Imagination,” and I was definitely not disappointed.
The wide grasp of the subject, and the depth of the insights, was astounding. From Marina Warner’s acknowledgement of the seminal value of the Epic of Gilgamesh, through Robert Crawford’s exploration of the librarian as ennobled and immortalized in poetry (and I can think of a number of librarians who would love to be so remembered), to Laura Marcus’s pursuit of the image of the haunted library and the library as labyrinth (with special focus, much to my delight, being paid to the library as presented in all its convolutions and Mediaeval ramifications in The Name of the Rose), the authors never fail to intrigue and enlighten. Not only are the contributors all experts in their field, but they are also such excellent writers that one can truly savor each word and sentence that they write.
Their rhapsodical descriptions embody the mystery that lies at the core of the library as phenomenon stretching down the ages. For instance, Warner draws attention to the “way of making [which] is important with regard to the library in fiction, viewed not only as a particular place where single titles or book-objects have been collected, but as a metaphor for literature itself, a polyphony of voices, laid down on multiple tracks, looping and converging over time, sometimes over great vistas of time.” In short, the richness and wealth of information that is embodied in library collections is brought only honor and memorableness in this text.
Whoever thought of a library as being a prosaic and stuffy old place that bears little relevance to the current digital age must definitely think again. Rounding off the work with an acknowledgement of the significance of libraries even in the modern day and age, given by Library of Congress James H. Billington, tribute is paid to the role of the library as a purveyor of knowledge that is geared towards satisfying mankind’s ongoing search for the truth. The Meaning of the Library: A Cultural History is a riveting and deeply satisfying work that is bound to leave the reader not only far more aware of the sociocultural importance of the institution as a reservoir of heritage and learning, but also inspired to think of issues that lie beyond the earthly and temporal realm.
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February 13, 2022xviii. The emergence of great libraries of literature may have had a hand in killing off innovation and experiment in Greek poetry by allowing poets to immerse them selves too comfortably in the poetry of the past, stifling the imaginative drive to produce something new.
xxviii. Library support groups: speak up for libraries.org, voices for the library.org.uk 8. Adventures in ancient Greek and Roman libraries, by Edith Hall. In his attempt to impress Cleopatra, Marc Anthony made her a present of the great library of Pergamum, all 200,000 volumes of it, collected by the ancestral rivals of Cleopatra's Ptolemy family – the Attalids.
84. The Renaissance library and the challenge of print, by Andrew Pettegree. The data collected by the USTC project indicates that by 1600 around 345,000 separate books had been printed. An average print from is normally calculated at around 700 to 1000 copies – this is something over 200 million copies all told. But for each edition the average number of copies that survive is around 3.5. That is, far less than 1% of all the books printed in the first stage of print have made it to the present day.
30% of the copies of the Gutenberg Bible published or still extant. But the tendency of great libraries to collect the same sorts of books means that whole categories of books have been lost altogether. About 30% of the books now known to have been published before 1601 survive in only one copy, and many have disappeared completely.
142. Bibliophilia, like other kinds of love, will appear preposterous to those not in thrall to it.
255. The modern library and global democracy. James H Billington:Only one library building, as far as I know, has survived largely intact from classical antiquity. It is a small square structure in Ephesus in present-day Turkey. Its entrance is framed by four female statues signifying wisdom, character, judgement, and specialised knowledge.
255. Having written America's declaration of independence in his 30s, Jefferson left behind in his later years two great testaments to the modern ideals of knowledge based democracy. He asked to be remembered on his tombstone not as a former president of the USA, but as the founder of a University. And his extraordinary personal library – which was organised under the categories of memory, reason, and imagination – became the core of America's national library.
263. Libraries are antidotes to fanaticism. They are temples of pluralism, where books that contradict one another sit peacefully side-by-side on the shelves just as intellectual antagonists work peacefully next to each other in Reading rooms.
xxviii. Library support groups: speak up for libraries.org, voices for the library.org.uk 8. Adventures in ancient Greek and Roman libraries, by Edith Hall. In his attempt to impress Cleopatra, Marc Anthony made her a present of the great library of Pergamum, all 200,000 volumes of it, collected by the ancestral rivals of Cleopatra's Ptolemy family – the Attalids.
84. The Renaissance library and the challenge of print, by Andrew Pettegree. The data collected by the USTC project indicates that by 1600 around 345,000 separate books had been printed. An average print from is normally calculated at around 700 to 1000 copies – this is something over 200 million copies all told. But for each edition the average number of copies that survive is around 3.5. That is, far less than 1% of all the books printed in the first stage of print have made it to the present day.
30% of the copies of the Gutenberg Bible published or still extant. But the tendency of great libraries to collect the same sorts of books means that whole categories of books have been lost altogether. About 30% of the books now known to have been published before 1601 survive in only one copy, and many have disappeared completely.
142. Bibliophilia, like other kinds of love, will appear preposterous to those not in thrall to it.
255. The modern library and global democracy. James H Billington:Only one library building, as far as I know, has survived largely intact from classical antiquity. It is a small square structure in Ephesus in present-day Turkey. Its entrance is framed by four female statues signifying wisdom, character, judgement, and specialised knowledge.
255. Having written America's declaration of independence in his 30s, Jefferson left behind in his later years two great testaments to the modern ideals of knowledge based democracy. He asked to be remembered on his tombstone not as a former president of the USA, but as the founder of a University. And his extraordinary personal library – which was organised under the categories of memory, reason, and imagination – became the core of America's national library.
263. Libraries are antidotes to fanaticism. They are temples of pluralism, where books that contradict one another sit peacefully side-by-side on the shelves just as intellectual antagonists work peacefully next to each other in Reading rooms.
May 12, 2018
Although it bills itself as a cultural history, The Meaning of the Library is at its heart just as much a philosophical argument, with each of its essays moving through the ages making the case that libraries have had and will continue to have meaning, though that meaning may shift over time.
Based on a series of lectures given at the University of St. Andrews to mark the 400th anniversary of its King Jame Library in 2012, the dozen essays here would have been developed during a particularly rough patch for libraries and library funding, and the opportunity to laud and defend the institution in general was likely just as much a motivator for the writers as the occasion to celebrate a specific institution. Alice Crawford, the digital humanities research librarian at the University of St. Andrews, edited the work and provides it with a lengthy introduction that Cliffs Notes all the essays in the book, which is useful for people who prefer to skip directly to the things they care about rather than reading straight through.
The selections are broadly divided into three areas: the library through time (which features a history of libraries in the Classical, Renaissance, Enlightenment, and Georgian eras), the library in imagination (an overview of libraries in fiction, poetry, and film), and the library now and in the future (does what it says on the tin). I found the first section most interesting, particularly Gameson on the Medieval library, though it's worth pointing out that all of the history here is very much of the white European type. Least effective were the essays on the library in pop culture, mostly because none of the authors seem to have read or watched anything made in the last fifty years. (Yes, I know we have to mention The Name of the Rose because Borges. But if that's your most recent cultural reference, you're in trouble.)
Although hit or miss in its execution and Euro-centric in its scope, The Meaning of the Library offers both an array of fascinating cocktail party trivia and a solid argument for its titular case, and promises a few hours enlightenment and entertainment for academic audiences or complete library nerds.
Based on a series of lectures given at the University of St. Andrews to mark the 400th anniversary of its King Jame Library in 2012, the dozen essays here would have been developed during a particularly rough patch for libraries and library funding, and the opportunity to laud and defend the institution in general was likely just as much a motivator for the writers as the occasion to celebrate a specific institution. Alice Crawford, the digital humanities research librarian at the University of St. Andrews, edited the work and provides it with a lengthy introduction that Cliffs Notes all the essays in the book, which is useful for people who prefer to skip directly to the things they care about rather than reading straight through.
The selections are broadly divided into three areas: the library through time (which features a history of libraries in the Classical, Renaissance, Enlightenment, and Georgian eras), the library in imagination (an overview of libraries in fiction, poetry, and film), and the library now and in the future (does what it says on the tin). I found the first section most interesting, particularly Gameson on the Medieval library, though it's worth pointing out that all of the history here is very much of the white European type. Least effective were the essays on the library in pop culture, mostly because none of the authors seem to have read or watched anything made in the last fifty years. (Yes, I know we have to mention The Name of the Rose because Borges. But if that's your most recent cultural reference, you're in trouble.)
Although hit or miss in its execution and Euro-centric in its scope, The Meaning of the Library offers both an array of fascinating cocktail party trivia and a solid argument for its titular case, and promises a few hours enlightenment and entertainment for academic audiences or complete library nerds.
March 14, 2019
I read this as part of my History of Libraries course, and I thought it was a fantastic collection of historical analysis that was both informative and compelling to read. I even finished the rest of the text, though it wasn't assigned, and was just as impressed.
January 21, 2018
A collection of essays that range from wonderfully interesting to devastatingly boring. It took me nearly two years of on and off reading but overall it was enjoyable and interesting.
December 14, 2016
I work in an academic library and our staff occasionally gets together to read a book together for cheap professional development.
As with most books which are collections of essays from many authors, some of the essays are better (more readable, clear theses, etc.) than others. It's a bit of a mixed bag. Some are very good (my top three are: "“The Advantages of Literature” The Subscription Library in Georgian Britain," "The Library in Poetry," and "“Casting and Gathering:” Libraries, Archives, and the Modern Writer"), other s made me cringe (specifically "The Modern Library and Global Democracy" which may has well have been titled, "YOUTHS!! *fist shake*"), and others were just so-so.
Overall, it is fine. Nothing earth-shattering or particularly new, but some points are very interesting and as it is essays, if you don't like one, there are several others to choose from.
As with most books which are collections of essays from many authors, some of the essays are better (more readable, clear theses, etc.) than others. It's a bit of a mixed bag. Some are very good (my top three are: "“The Advantages of Literature” The Subscription Library in Georgian Britain," "The Library in Poetry," and "“Casting and Gathering:” Libraries, Archives, and the Modern Writer"), other s made me cringe (specifically "The Modern Library and Global Democracy" which may has well have been titled, "YOUTHS!! *fist shake*"), and others were just so-so.
Overall, it is fine. Nothing earth-shattering or particularly new, but some points are very interesting and as it is essays, if you don't like one, there are several others to choose from.
March 9, 2016
Wonderful collection of essays about the library. I was hoping for futuristic essays on libraries at the end of the collection, but the ones about historical libraries and the meaning of the library in art, film, and literature were amazing.
Sure some of the essays hit on a few tropes (technology is making us dumb), but overall I thought the essays were really entertaining.
Sure some of the essays hit on a few tropes (technology is making us dumb), but overall I thought the essays were really entertaining.
January 31, 2017
A collection of essays about how libraries were important throughout history and how they have impacted lives and stories. Some new information, but I already knew a lot of the history just because of my education. Decently written, but I'm also not a fan of collections of essays.
September 8, 2016
A wide-ranging collection of essays, some quite scholarly, and mostly Eurocentric in focus. Typical of collections like this, the selections vary in interest and appeal.
December 22, 2015
A book about libraries with not a single word about any library in the spanish american world? Yea come to think about it let me drop from 3 to 2 stars.
May 6, 2016
Another great read
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February 26, 2016027.009 M4833 2015
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February 8, 2019I will visit again many good ideas and useful to read it is on my shelf
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