A lending library is a

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

from which books and other media are lent out. The major classifications are endowed libraries, institutional libraries (the most diverse), public libraries, and subscription libraries. It may also refer to a library or other institution that sends materials on request to another library, usually via interlibrary loan.

History

The earliest reference to or use of the term "lending library" yet located in English correspondence dates from ca. 1586; ''C'Tess Pembroke Ps. CXII''. v, "He is ... Most liberall and lending," referring to the books of an unknown type of library, and later in a context familiar to users of contemporary English, in 1708, by ''J. Chamberlayne; St. Gt. Brit.''; III. xii. 475 " he Librariesof Cambridge are Lending-libraries; that is, he that is qualified may borrow out of it any book he wants". This definition is closely associated with libraries in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

before the Public Libraries Act 1850 was passed which allowed cities to use taxes to create and maintain libraries but did not require cities build them.Lerner, Fred (1998) ''The Story of Libraries''. New York: Continuum, p. 143. This definition is also applicable in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

before 1850 and widespread School District Library Acts which were passed in many states at the same time.

Types of lending libraries

Professor Thomas Gram Bell Kelly was the first library historian to address the problem of classification and nomenclature of libraries in his book ''Early public libraries: a history of public libraries in Great Britain before 1850''. Leeds Library (founded 1768) a private subscription or proprietary library, is also referred to as a public library and a circulating library, illustrating the need for a

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

that is not confusing. The major classifications, based on ownership are endowed libraries, institutional libraries (the most diverse), public libraries, and subscription libraries.Ollé, James. ''Library History''. London: Clive Bingley, 1979, p. 36. Without tax from the community a library may be created with a gift or endowment, by subscription, or by adding it on to an existing structure or institution which also serves other purposes. Cost is assumed by the donor or donors in an endowed library; it is assumed by the users in a subscription library, and could or could not be assumed by the users depending on the function of the institution, these variations could be combined in some cases.Kelly, Thomas. ''Early Public Libraries: a history of public libraries in Great Britain before 1850''. London: Library Association, 1966, p. 68. Private libraries are not covered by Kelly due to individual or small group ownership and his focus on the 'public' aspect of these institutions. The University of Zambia Library is an academic Library, which was founded in 1966 and officially opened in August 1969 by the first Republican President, Dr Kenneth D. Kaunda.

Endowment libraries

Between the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

and the end of the eighteenth century, over two hundred endowed libraries are known to have been established in England alone, and existed due to the private library collections of individual benefactors or occasionally to multiple benefactors. Controlled by the local clergy, almost all endowed libraries were attached to parish churches in towns and cities, and were kept in the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

, in the

parvis A parvis or parvise is the open space in front of and around a cathedral or Church (building) , church, especially when surrounded by either colonnades or porticoes, as at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. It is thus a church-specific type of forec ...

over the south porch, in the parsonage, or in some nearby adjoining building. Frequently the books were chained, similar to those in the Francis Trigge Chained Library and at Christ Church Library. The two dozen or so libraries that did not match this template in England include a small but important group which were controlled from early on or the start by municipal corporations, founded in market towns before 1680.

Parish church libraries

Early

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

libraries were stated to be for the use of local layman and clergy, but the books were not in English, were largely in Latin, and exclusively theological in character.

Thomas Bray Thomas Bray (1656 or 165815 February 1730) was an English clergyman and abolitionist who helped formally establish the Church of England in Maryland, as well as the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge and USPG, Society for the Pr ...

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

cleric who originally had the idea of the parish library, who wrote in 1697, "An Essay Towards Promoting all Necessary and Useful Knowledge, Both Divine and human, In all the Parts of His Majesty's Dominions, Both at Home and Abroad", wanted the church to acquire books and lend them to the general public as well as the parishioners and clergy. Though the collections were mainly religious, the collection extended to literature and the classics, due to an underlying desire of Bray to guide education in a proper fashion. He also lobbied for public financing, and promoted the circulation of books so that the inhabitants of the parish could take them home.Lowell, Martin. Enrichment: A History of the Public Library in the United States in the Twentieth Century. Lanham, M.D.: Scarecrow Press, 1998, p. 1-2. Some contemporary churches such as St James' Church, Sydney maintain lending libraries on theological and religious subjects for the use of their parishioners.

Parochial libraries

Parochial libraries were defined by Kelly to distinguish them from parish church libraries, whose books could be used by the locals and were often chained to desks. Parochial libraries instead were restricted to the use of parochial authorities, and often meant only for reference. The

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

after the Restoration wished to reform the ministry of the church by investing in the learning and development of their pastoral care and teaching. Building libraries in poor

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

s and isolated ones was part of that initiative, and an extension of a major philanthropic movement during that time. The movement included charity schools which would teach the children of the poor the Catechism and to read, establishing trust funds for the poor, and develop programs to repair existing parish churches and build new churches.Jacob, W. M.. "Libraries for the parish: individual donors and charitable societies". The Cambridge History Of Libraries In Britain And Ireland. 3 vols. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 65-66

Municipal corporation libraries

Municipal corporation libraries were to be for the use of shopkeepers and aldermen, and to disseminate knowledge, but the one in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, according to its catalog, revealed that all the early books were not in English but were in Greek or Latin, limiting their usefulness. Other libraries that were bequeathed or endowed by individual citizens to towns and cities, were managed by a non-religious group of trustees, such as in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, where the library was managed by a self elected body of up to twenty-four members, who also had the duty to purchase new books, even though they employed a full-time librarian. In

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, the library was looked upon by townsfolk with civic pride, proclaiming that the library would bring fame, honor, and renown to the Corporation and place it was located. Bristol, Leicester and Manchester libraries all chained their books to the book press or desk for security purposes, at Leicester this was done right to the 1820s.Powell, Michael. "Endowed libraries for towns". The Cambridge History Of Libraries In Britain And Ireland. 3 vols. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006, 88-99

Institutional libraries

Institutional libraries in England were originally almost non-existent in 1750; however, by 1850 there was an established network of these specialized libraries, which had been developed mostly through private enterprise, though some government involvement had started. The specialized libraries were mainly medical libraries which early on included chemistry and botany, and later developed to serve medical professionals. Since there were few professional scientists before 1850, people interested in science relied mainly on general circulating libraries, rather than institutional libraries to meet their needs.Symons, John. "Scientific and medical libraries: the rise of the institution". ''The Cambridge History of Libraries in Britain and Ireland''. 3 vols. Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 388-389

Social libraries

Social libraries peaked in significance by the mid-nineteenth century, and all their many forms have been the object of intense research in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and Europe. Davis and Tucker explain that:

"The term social library has come to signify the kind of library that generally provided a circulating collection of materials and frequently a reading room for the use of any persons meeting the established criteria, which usually involved a fee or subscription, or a payment to become a joint owner or stockholder, of the library".Davis, Donald G., Jr., Tucker, John Mark. ''American Library History: a comprehensive guide to the literature''. Santa Barbara, California: Clio Press Ltd., 1989, p. 56.

These libraries were often referred to as "public libraries" during the nineteenth century. This appellation over time came to describe tax-supported, publicly administered libraries open to all regardless of class, race or age for free on an equal basis, at least in theory. It is understandable that the nomenclature of libraries is varied among patrons, employees and historians, who have had the difficult task of defining and separating the various types of libraries into manageable classifications.

Hidden libraries

It is impossible to cover all types of libraries throughout all stages of history and classify or define them to the satisfaction of all, but the variety and evolution of libraries needs to be explored further. Hidden libraries is a widespread description of libraries in any place from prisoner-of-war camps, military installations, motels, hotels, inns, the home, alternative communities, pubs, restaurants, laundrettes, holiday camps, coffee houses, community centres, in accommodations and facilities for workers and servants,

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

and seamen's establishments,

prisons A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various cr ...

and asylums and is not complete. Libraries connected to transportation also abound from airliners, railways, tramcars, buses, various ships, and way stations.Black, Alistair, & Hoare, Peter. "Libraries and the modern world". ''The Cambridge History of Libraries in Britain and Ireland''. 3 vols. Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 10-12. The Tabard Inn Library exchange stations were part of a commercial lending library system, where exchange stations could be set up in any location from retail establishments, offices, and private homes.

References

External links

Aristotle's LibraryCambridge libraries & galleries

Description of a chained library at Christ Church Library, Oxford, UKLutterworth, UKManchester History and origins

Picture of a chained book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lending Library Types of library