Libraries through the Ages

by Fred Lerner

Five thousand years ago, the Sumerian people created writing and established libraries to preserve the prayers, hymns and documents necessary for progress both in religion and commerce. Ever since, libraries have reflected and shaped the societies that created them by preserving the thoughts and actions of their ancestral cultures, and transmitting them through time. A librarian for more than 30 years, Fred Lerner has based this volume on "The Story of Libraries" (Continuum, 1998). More concise, and with twice as many illustrations, it should appeal to secondary school students, as well as to older readers, who want an international history of book collection, from the invention of writing to the computer age.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

160 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1999

Reviews

[Jason Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very brief book about how libraries came about along with a short final chapter on their future.

My oldest daughter had asked us how libraries got started and it really caught us off guard as it was a question we had no answer for. So we asked the librarian at our Middletown branch and they recommended this book.

If you are looking for drama, suspense, and intrigue, this might not be your thing. If you are a history buff, this is probably more your speed. While it only took a little over a day to read it, I did find it a tad bit dry. I was thankful that the author included some historical photos of older libraries. An interesting read.

[ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very great introduction and sample of library history. As a library page myself, it was enlightening to learn about the history of my place of work. I only knock this book from 5 stars to 4 because it is twenty or so years old and some of the informed guesses in the last chapter have either already come true, evolved differently, or haven’t happened yet. Informative read

[Concetta Kellough · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short history of libraries through the ages.

[JaNel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ch. 7 The information at the end of this chapter about the Library of Congress was so interesting. Especially the part about it being at the forefront of library technological research, performing experiments to be better able to preserve old books from deteriorating etc.

[Phoebe · Rating 3 out of 5]

About 3/4ths of the way through the book, it occurred to me that this is a book for kids/teens/"young adults." I can't exactly pinpoint what made me first think it, but I checked the copyright page to confirm: "1. Libraries-History-Juvenille Literature." Yes, I will be a great librarian.

But it's a well-written book for fairly sophisticated juvenilles, I think, and frankly, a 127-page history of libraries was just what I wanted to read. I did think it was kind of a quick gloss over time, and over issues such as colonialism (there's one scary moment when Lerner betrays an assumption that all developing countries are tropical...!?) and censorship. There are a number of "if you were..." topic sentences in the book. And there's a nice short glossary. I love a glossary.

[Herb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good and concise, general overview of libraries in world history.