The Story of Libraries: From the Invention of Writing to the Computer Age

Description

This work describes the crucial role libraries played in ancient Egypt, Han-dynasty China, the ancient Western Classical world (the great library of Alexandria, which was lost to us in stages over many years), the Baghdad of Harun-al-Rashid, and medieval and Renaissance Europe. It continues with the libraries of colonial America, the Library of Congress, university libraries, and today's large public library system.

Fred Lerner was previously an Information Scientist at the National Centrer for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, White River Junction, Vermont, USA. He holds degrees in history and library science from Columbia University, where he received his doctorate. He has also written widely on contemporary science fiction and produced a bibliographical database indexing literature on posttraumatic stress disorder.

"The insight and gentle wit that inform Lerner's shorter essays can be seen throughout The Story of Libraries, a rich and thought-provoking work that should prove of interest to a wide readership in the book community."--AB Bookman's Weekly "Nowadays, when the widespread availability of written material has left us all a little jaded, we need more than ever to be reminded of the preciousness of books. Lerner's survey performs this task admirably and entertainingly, with veneration and quiet drama."--Asimov's Science Fiction "Lerner writes with grace, suppleness, and verve about how people created and built and kept libraries. Lerner is a fine guide."--GraceAnne A. DeCandido, former editor-in-chief of Wilson Library Bulletin "Only Fred Lerner's The Story of Libraries offers even a passing view of the splendors of the book and the library in other cultures. Imagine the glorious Syrian library of Banu Ammar with its 180 copyists, its fabulous pavilions and watercourses; not to speak of the quite miraculous-sounding public libraries of 13th-century Baghdad, open even to the poor. More than other books, Lerner's reminds us of the terrors that also lay in the textual past. He reminds us of the fragility of the word and the often marginal status of those places in which it is stored."--Los Angeles Times "What a treasure trove Fred Lerner's The Story of Libraries is--a bit like libraries themselves. Everything a library lover could possibly want to know."--Jane Yolen, author of Owl Moon, The Devil's Arithmetic, and 200 other books "We now have a book with ideas to impress general readers from the outside and stretch library-history insiders, especially those of us who are lucky enough to be teaching library history courses, for which this should now be the text of choice."--Libraries and Culture "Librarian, writer, and historian Lerner's original edition (1998) was one of the first major works on the history of libraries from ancient times to the modern era...This new edition updates the original version, again taking readers from the libraries of ancient times into the future. It also offers a new chapter on information science. Considering the monumental changes in the role of libraries in the last ten years, this new chapter is a necessary addition. None of the verisimilitude of the original is lost in the new edition; all the original illustrations remain intact, as do the expanded notes section and bibliography. This is a very important book for any academic library collection that serves library and information science students and for liberal arts programs that focus on cultural and social history. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers." -S.P. Beiting, CHOICE, July 2010 Reviewed in Information Today, 1st July 2010, (US) 'The Story of Libraries is a wonderful introduction to the history of these institutions'