Spring has sprung and the wind has come with it. It might be a good time to get out of the wind and into the library. The library you ask? National Library Week is April 10-16, a good time to celebrate all that libraries do for our communities!Remember when libraries were rather ominous structures full of musty-smelling books and shushing librarians? Well, if you’ve been to the High Prairie or any other library branch lately, you know the neighborhood library is a bustling center of activity. It’s not just for borrowing a book and researching a term paper or thesis. It’s more than that.Now, you can check out a movie on DVD, an Xbox 360 or PS3 game; borrow a book that you can listen to on the MP3 player that comes with it; learn how to start a business; or research your family tree. If you don’t want to travel to the library, hop online and download a book to play on your MP3. In fact, the online library offers many services. On any given day, you can walk in the library and find something different going on – something for everyone.Our keepers of history have a rich history of their own.Archeological findings have dug up rooms full of clay tablets from ancient cities. Topics of writings were usually commercial transactions and only rarely theological writings or legends. The same types of writings were found in Ancient Egypt, except on papyrus. It wasn’t until some time around the fifth century that fiction and nonfiction writings appeared in Greece on parchment scrolls followed by papyrus scrolls. Except for the Alexandria Library in Egypt, most libraries were private collections.It is thought that the Chinese were the first to establish a classification system during the Han Dynasty (202 B.C. – 220 A.D.), an Dybnastwith the library catalog written on scrolls of silk.The first public libraries in the West were built under the Roman Empire, and each emperor would strive to build the biggest and best over their predecessor. In these libraries, visitors would have direct access to the scrolls, although they were only to be read inside of the library.Medieval libraries were designed for the labor-intensive books that were literally handwritten. These books were so expensive to produce they had to be chained to lecterns and shelves so as not to be stolen. The stack system came about in the early 19th century when books became less expensive to produce and libraries were built with translucent floors to let the light in. Fortunately, electricity came along, ending the need for designing libraries that maximized use of natural light.Fast forward to the 20th century. In 1903, Colorado Springs first established the Free Public Library; bookmobile service started in 1954; the Penrose Public Library opened in 1968 and was funded by the El Pomar Foundation; and the High Prairie branch opened in 2010.And there are more interesting tidbits about libraries.
- Colorado has more public libraries than movie theaters, and they employ about 2,800 people.
- Coloradoans borrow 78.8 million items from libraries every year.
- About 55 million people visit Colorado libraries each year.
- More than half of Finland’s population are registered book borrowers, the highest number per capita in the world.
- Most Roman bath houses started as a library and a cultural center.
- The Family History Library, located in Salt Lake City, houses more than 2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical records for more than 110 countries, as well as microfiche, books, periodicals and electronic resources. Patrons can receive assistance to trace their family history in about 30 languages.
