Murphy Library News

Libraries: an ancient institution

By Teri Holford, interim Outreach Librarian

Today, April 8, 2024 a narrow corridor of the United States will be in the direct path of a total solar eclipse. The Moon will pass between the Earth and the Sun, silently obscuring the Sun for a few minutes from the perspective of someone on the Earth. Many witnesses of a total solar eclipse have claimed that the experience is singular, when time almost stops still, and brings to mind a realization of one’s insignificance yet collectively belonging to something as hugely intricate and inconceivable as the universe. 

In an almost far-fetched comparison, one could argue that libraries also provide that dual sensation of insignificance and belonging. 

So in the name of National Library Month, let’s talk about libraries. 

So many people think that libraries are simple places, quiet and all about books. Except that they aren’t. Libraries are so much more. They are vivid, living, complex and dynamic--an ensemble of constantly moving parts that must work together to be much more than the sum of its parts. Libraries respond to and anticipate user needs. Collecting, organizing, preserving, and making information accessible, libraries have been around longer than most people realize.

According to various sources, the oldest library in human history is The Royal Library of the ancient Kingdom of Ebla, one of the earliest civilisations in the early Bronze age in present day Syria. In the mid 1970s, Italian archeologists discovered over 2,000 clay tablets and over 4,000 fragments of clay tablets at a site that has been designated as the oldest library in the world (2500 BC-2250 BC). Evidence suggests that these clay tablets were organized and arranged by subject. The tablets would have been housed on shelves in the library, located within the walls of the palace.  Evidence also suggests that the tablets were transcribed into other languages, cataloged and classified for access and retrieval, classic cornerstones of the discipline of librarianship. 

Libraries have gone through several iterations of what kind of information is preserved, how and for whom. Many libraries were historically for scholars only. Over time libraries were also considered as private places for paying members only. In the 18th century, Benjamin Franklin, a dedicated bibliophile, helped found the first lending library in 1731 in Philadelphia. Called the Library Company, subscribers invested some of their own money to start the library, promising to invest more on a yearly basis to buy more books and maintain the library. Their meaning of their motto, a Latin phrase  meaning "To support the common good is divine" is still a basic concept in librarianship. The experiment was a success, and thus other towns and communities created their own lending libraries. 

Franklin Public Library in Franklin, MA is considered the oldest public lending library in the United States still in working existence. It was named for Franklin after he donated more than 100 of his personal books to the town, renamed Franklin. For more historic information about public libraries in the United States, visit this page from the American Library Association.

Back to National Library Week, it’s important to note that a library has many moving parts--so many that it takes several people to keep this machine well oiled and working for the benefit of its users. 

That’s why Murphy Library employs many hard working people. From custodians who keep the space clean and welcoming to university staff, librarians and students who keep the services, collections and space up and running, together we provide our campus community the information, resources, and space it needs and wants, and work to maintain our place at the table of larger campus and community conversations.