library

Introduction
The changing role of libraries
The history of libraries
- The ancient world
  - Greece and Alexandria
  - Pergamum
  - Rome
  - Byzantium
  - The Islāmic world
- The Middle Ages and the Renaissance
  - The role of the European monasteries
  - The new learning
  - Effects of the Reformation and religious wars
  - The Islāmic world
- 17th and 18th centuries and the great national libraries
  - Library planning
  - Emergence of national collections
  - The effects of the French Revolution
- Later developments
Types of libraries
- National libraries
  - Bibliothèque Nationale
  - The British Library
  - Library of Congress
  - Russian State Library
  - Other national collections
- University and research libraries
- Public libraries
- Special libraries
- School libraries
- Private libraries
- Subscription libraries
- Archives
National libraries of the world
The library operation
- Training and library management
  - The professional librarian
  - Training institutes
- Library materials
  - Types of materials
    - Ancient materials
    - Photographs
    - Audiovisual materials
    - Magnetic materials
  - Access to materials
- Technical services
  - Acquisition and supply
    - Criteria for selection
    - Acquisition systems
  - Cataloging
    - Cataloging by author and subject
    - Catalog systems
    - Vehicles for catalogs
    - Catalog standardization
      Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules
      Resource Description and Access
      Other codes
    - Thesauri
  - Classification
    - The Dewey Decimal system
    - The Universal Decimal system
    - The Library of Congress system
    - The Bliss system
    - The Colon system
    - The Marxist system
  - Preservation
    - Reformatting
    - Deacidification
    - Future-conscious manufacturing
- User services
  - Circulation
  - Reference and retrieval
    - Retrospective searching
    - Current-awareness service
  - Community information
    - Library extension programs
    - Community awareness programs
- Interlibrary relations
  - Library cooperation
    - Interlibrary lending
    - Cooperative acquisition and storage
    - Cooperative cataloging
  - Associations and international organizations

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

British Museum: Reading Room

Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

Library of Congress

Moscow: Russian State Library

Parliament of Canada: Library of Parliament

National Diet Library

Puebla, Mexico: Palafox Library

New York Public Library

McKim, Charles Follen: Boston Public Library

Visit the Library of Parliament in Ontario, Canada built in the Gothic revival architectural style, and know about its history, and collections

At a Glance

default image

library summary

Related Questions

British Museum: Reading Room — British Museum: Reading Room Reading Room of the British Museum, designed by Sidney Smirke in collaboration with Anthony Panizzi and built in the 1850s. Illustration by Smirke, from the Illustrated London News, 1857.

library

Also known as: librarianship

Written by

Salman HaiderAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Oct. 22, 2026 •History

library, traditionally, collection of books used for reading or study, or the building or room in which such a collection is kept. The word derives from the Latin liber, “book,” whereas a Latinized Greek word, bibliotheca, is the origin of the word for library in German, Russian, and the Romance languages. From their historical beginnings as places to keep the business, legal, historical, and religious records of a civilization, libraries have emerged since the middle...

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