ETYM Old Eng. librairie, French librairie bookseller's shop, book trade, formerly, a library, from libraire bookseller, Latin librarius, from liber book; cf. libraria bookseller's shop, librarium bookcase, Italian libreria. Related to Libel.
1. A building that houses a collection of books and other materials.
2. A facility built to contain books and other materials for reading and study; SYN. depository library.
3. A room where books are kept.
4. A collection of literary documents or records kept for reference or borrowing.
5. (Computing) A collection of standard programs and subroutines that are stored and available for immediate use; SYN. program library.
Collection of information (usually in the form of books) held for common use. The earliest was at Nineveh in Babylonian times. The first public library was opened in Athens in 330 BC. All ancient libraries were reference libraries: books could be consulted but not borrowed.
Lending or circulating libraries did not become popular until the 18th century; they became widespread in the 19th century with the rapid development of public libraries. Free public libraries probably began in the 15th century. In the UK, the first documented free public library was established in Manchester in 1852, after the 1850 Public Library Act. The first free, public, tax-supported library in the US was opened in Boston in 1854. Associations of libraries were formed later: the American Library Association was founded in 1876, the Library Association, Great Britain, in 1877.
Books are now usually classified by one of two major systems: Dewey Decimal Classification (now known as Universal Decimal Classification), invented by Melvil Dewey (1851–1931), and the Library of Congress system. Library cataloging systems range from cards to microfiche to computer databases with on-line terminals. These frequently make use of ISBN numbers (International Standard Book Numbers) and, for magazines and journals, ISSN numbers. + prikaži više