Happy Birthday Circulating Libraries!

On May 25, 1725, Scotsman Allan Ramsay made history by creating the first documented circulating library. And boy, were some people upset. Why? Because amongst the religious and academic works he was putting into the hands of the citizens was fiction. Scandalous fiction, like Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe. Even worse, some of that scandalous fiction was falling into the hands of impressionable women. The powerful Scottish Church was outraged. This was the beginning of the moral decay of society!

Despite the histrionics, Ramsay persevered and continued to run his library from the ground floor of his shop. It became so popular he eventually had to expand. Eventually, other circulating libraries opened as well. For the first time even the non-rich people could get access to books.

Of course, Ramsay’s was not the first actual library. In fact, libraries have existed in some form for millennia. For example, the Library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh (Iraq) dates to the seventh century BCE. Then there is the famous Library of Alexandria, which was sadly destroyed in 48 BCE.

But the concept of storing written knowledge goes even further back. Archives in the form of clay tablets were discovered in Syria. Libraries similar to the form we know are believed to have originated in Mesopotamia about five thousand years ago. As long as humans have been writing there have been attempts to preserve those texts for the future.

Who had access to those writings varied. Since literacy was not universal, initially the educated upper classes and religious/academic scholars were the primary users. The number of copies of each work was also limited. Stone tablets could be heavy after all. And even once the printed page (using various methods) became the norm, every book had to be handwritten.

Then, in the 15th century, the printing press changed everything. Now, written material could be mass produced. But who had access to those books still depended on who had the money. Universities, wealthy elites, and religious sects would have their own collections with very limited access. Commercial libraries existed but often came with high fees that most could not afford.

The democratization of reading truly began with Ramsay’s little shop. Minimal fees made books accessible to almost anyone. So, while the Scotsman’s library was far from the first, it did lay the groundwork for the public libraries that we know today.

So Happy Birthday circulating libraries. May you celebrate many more.

For more information about the history of libraries, check out the following books:

The Library: An Illustrated History by Stuart A. P. Murray

The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders by Stuart Kells

Library: An Unquiet History by Matthew Battles

The Library: A Fragile History by Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen

Pamela M.
Antioch Branch