History of Libraries
From Clay Tablets to Cloud Archives
Every library ever built has shared the same radical premise: knowledge belongs to everyone. A short history of how libraries became the open institutions we know today.
By Collette Baldasare Jones · September 4, 2026 · 5 min read
Libraries are not simply buildings that store books. They are the physical embodiment of a society's commitment to shared knowledge, to memory, and to the idea that any person deserves access to the accumulated wisdom of humanity.
From Ashurbanipal's cuneiform tablets to Carnegie's marble reading rooms to the app on your phone, this is that story.
Libraries in America
The story in the United States begins early. In 1638 the first public library collection took shape in Boston. In 1731 Benjamin Franklin and his friends founded the Library Company of Philadelphia, pooling their money so members could borrow books none of them could afford alone. That simple idea, sharing so everyone can learn, became the foundation of the American public library.
Books about libraries and the love of reading
- The Library Book, Susan Orlean. An investigation into the 1986 Los Angeles Public Library fire and a love letter to libraries everywhere.
- The Librarian of Auschwitz, Antonio Iturbe. The true story of a teenage girl who secretly kept eight precious books hidden in Auschwitz.
- The Reading Promise, Alice Ozma. A father and daughter who pledged to read aloud for 100 nights and kept going for 3,218.
- Educated, Tara Westover. A memoir about the transformative power of education and the cost of seeking it.
"Knowledge belongs to everyone."
Adapted from the Library Literacy Hub at collettecurates.org.
