After having several family members ask me in recent days, “Are there even going to be libraries in the future, or will it all be online?” it’s nice to be able to look back at the history of the profession as I enter this career path. In the one year I have been living abroad so far, I have had the opportunity to see several libraries, from educational to religious. Now looking back on my travels and reading this particular chapter makes think a little more about the important roles libraries have placed throughout history and how that shapes our societies.
Rubin (2008) gave Egyptian temples an example of “Keeping the faith: Religious Collections” ( p. 4). It was amazing to see these libraries in action as their beautiful inscriptions (left) and paintings held valuable information. What we found when we were there was that not only did the building themselves hold valuable records about culture and religion, they were sometimes more practical as well. One wall showed a calendar (below left). In another location, our guide pointed out a small room that held a library of actual artifacts and papyrus scrolls (below right). The Egyptians were amazing keepers of information as much of these artifacts are available today.
What really intrigued me when I read this chapter was the authors claim that “…we owe the greatest debt for the Renaissance in Western Europe for it would not have been possible without the works maintained and conserved in the libraries of the Arab and Byzantine world during this period.” (Rubin, 2008, p. 6-7). Although I am not disputing the claim, I personally found it interesting consider I have also read “How the Irish Saved Civilization” (Thomas Cahill, 1996). Although Rubin does mention this under the religious purpose of libraries, he seemed to downplay the importance and undermine the reliability of some of the books because the copying may have lacked accuracy. Although that is not a disputed fact, I found it interesting to hear two different authors claim basically the same thing about two different groups and times.
Most importantly, I think the explanation of how modern libraries have come about, as well of the different purposes throughout time, goes to show that libraries are essential and no matter the format the material is in, whether hieroglyphic carvings on temple walls, books laboriously copies by monks, or digital books on Kindles, there will always been a need for public access to information.
Rubin, R. E. (2008). Stepping back and looking forward: Reflections on the foundations of libraries and librarianship. In K. Haycock & B. E. Sheldon (Eds.), The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts (pp. 3-14). Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited.
Cahill, T. (1996). How the Irish saved civilization. New York: Nan A. Talese.
Most importantly, I think the explanation of how modern libraries have come about, as well of the different purposes throughout time, goes to show that libraries are essential and no matter the format the material is in, whether hieroglyphic carvings on temple walls, books laboriously copies by monks, or digital books on Kindles, there will always been a need for public access to information.
Rubin, R. E. (2008). Stepping back and looking forward: Reflections on the foundations of libraries and librarianship. In K. Haycock & B. E. Sheldon (Eds.), The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts (pp. 3-14). Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited.
Cahill, T. (1996). How the Irish saved civilization. New York: Nan A. Talese.
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