HISTORY OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIES

▪ Est. 300 B.C.- Library of Alexandria by Ptolemy Soter

▪ Est. 7th Century B.C.- Library in Nineveh
(Although not specifically ‘academic libraries,’ Library of Alexandria and Nineveh were the known
great libraries that support academicians a long time ago)
▪ Middle Ages- The common word for library in the early Middle Ages was “armarium,” the name for
the bookchest where the books were kept. The librarian of such collection was known as the “armarius.”
▪ 1338 - first (ancient) academic library, the library at Sorbonne (University of Paris), contained over
1700 volumes of lectures
▪ 1424- Cambridge University Library had only 122 volumes at the time.
▪ Mid-15th Century- The invention of movable type press by Johan Gutenberg led to the fast
development of printing, leading to the increase of knowledge production.
▪ 1638 - John Harvard donated £800 and 300 books to establish what we know as the first state-side
academic library.
▪ 18th Century- The ready availability of printed books also led to the establishment of subscription
libraries and book clubs, some of which – like the journals – were based on learned societies.
▪ 1700- Bodleian Library at Oxford University increased 16,000 volumes in 1620 to
30,000 by 1700.
▪ 1792 - Nine colonial college libraries established

The history of academic libraries is tied with academia and the history of universities

▪ Ancient Universities- Cambridge, Oxford, St. Andrews, and Aberdeen.

▪ 19th Century- University expansion
- The number of universities expanded, and they started to throw off their traditional curricula.
- Harvard, oldest and largest college library, with 13,000 volumes

▪ 1828 - Yale Report retards development of academic libraries and stifles curricular reform
▪ 1840 - 1840 First separate building to house a college library built by South Carolina College (later
USC)
▪ 1850 - Only two college libraries, Harvard and Yale, with collections over 50,000
▪ 1876 - the founding of Johns Hopkins on the German research university model emphasized for the first
time the research function of higher education. Thus, the library gained increasing recognition as
essential to the new academic role of research and worthy of the epithet “the heart of the university.”
- the beginnings of the professionalization of American librarianship occurred when the American
Library Association was founded
▪ 1887 - Melvil Dewey’s library school opens at Columbia University
▪ 20th Century- Libraries continued to grow gradually during the early years of the 20th century, but it
became apparent that provision varied enormously between institutions.
▪ 1919 - Interlibrary Library Code promotes lending of library materials between libraries
▪ 1921- The University Grant Committee investigated the situation and, in a report published in 1921,
made one of the most supportive and appreciative statements about libraries ever to emerge from a quasi-
government body:
 “The character and efficiency of a university may be gauged by its treatment of its central organ – the
library. We regard the fullest provision for library maintenance as the primary and most vital need in
the equipment of a university.”
▪ 1928 - Carnegie Corporation funds college libraries
▪ 1932 and 1938 - Founding of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and Association of College and
Research Libraries (ACRL) respectively
▪ 1940s-1960s - Building boom for college libraries and collection development grants funded by Federal
government
▪ 1967- The Parry Report
Due to the severe economic recession followed by WW2, little was done to ensure that a minimum
standard of library provision was made. It was not until the new universities founded that a systematic
review of provisions was undertaken in a thorough investigation by a committee chaired by Dr. Thomas
Parry. Librarians were given a chance to plan a library from scratch. At the end of the investigation, a
report was made. It recognized that libraries are expensive to build and maintain and recommended that
universities devote a minimum of around 6% of their revenue expenditure to the library.
▪ 1970s - Preservation and conservation of library materials a concern in light of vandalism and budget
cutbacks
▪ 1972 - OCLC (Ohio College Library Center) offered online cataloging data to subscribing libraries. Its
purpose was to develop a computerized system that would allow the libraries of these academic
institutions to share resources and reduce costs
▪ 1975- The Atkinson Report
This reiterated that ‘the library is the core of a university’ and also proposed the concept of a ‘self-
renewing’ library in which new accessions would be relieved by the withdrawal of obsolete or
unconsulted material to other stores.
▪ 1980s - Growth of networks and consortia for library resource sharing
▪ 1992- The Follett Report
The investigation of the Follett committee chaired by Sir Brian Follett took into account the planned
expansion of higher education, the current and potential impact of information technology on
information provision, the possibilities of greater cooperation and sharing of capital and recurrent
resources; to investigate the future national needs for the development of library and information
resources including operational and study space requirements for teaching and research in higher
education institutions and to identify ways to meet those needs.
▪ 1994- The Anderson Report
The outcome of the investigation following the Follett is to help further librarians respond to the specific
recommendations of the Follett Report. It led to the establishment of the Research Support Libraries
Programme (RSLP). This major program, funded at 30 million pounds over three years (academic years
1999-2002), has four strands:
1. Supporting access to major holdings libraries
2. Collaborative collection management projects
3. Research support for humanities and social science collections
4. Targeted retrospective conversion of catalogs.