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

Citation

Baggs, C. (2002), "The Story of Libraries: From the Invention of Writing to the Computer Age", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 58 No. 4, pp. 488-490. https://doi.org/10.1108/jd.2002.58.4.488.4

Fred Lerner (who holds degrees in history and library science) has attempted in this book of 14 chapters to “trace the evolution of libraries” not via an “exhaustive statistical survey” but through a “brief historical narrative”. The very title The Story of Libraries emphasises that this volume is neither academically driven nor densely written, although his approach is rigorous and solidly based on wide‐ranging and relevant sources. His point of departure is the invention of writing, which he ascribes both to the third century BC Sumerians (p. 13) and the Chinese (p. 51), with chapter seven on Gutenberg and moveable type forming the pivotal centre of the narrative. The earlier chapters adopt a broad chronological and geographical approach, tracing the development in, ups and downs of, and reasons behind the history of library provision. They cover not only libraries in the Ancient World, the Dark Ages and so on, but also, and this aspect is very welcome, libraries in the Orient and the Islamic World. Following the chapter on the introduction of printing to Europe, the book switches to a more thematically based approach, as chapters deal with national libraries, public libraries, children’s libraries and so on. Chapter 13 reviews the profession of librarianship, whilst in the final chapter (11 pages) Lerner indulges in some crystal ball gazing on the future shape of libraries in the computer age.

It would be foolish not to recognize and allow for the major problems inherent in the task that Lerner set himself, namely the initial choice of what subjects to include and what to exclude, and then how to arrange what has been chosen. The result seems a reasonable compromise, although certainly in the later chapters there were times when particular examples could easily have been mentioned in more than one of the thematic divisions. Moreover, but perhaps not surprisingly, having arrived at the eighteenth century, Lerner’s examples come increasingly from the USA, followed by the UK, with the rest of Europe generally trailing in a poor third. As to biographical information, there is little of that once the twentieth century has been reached.

One area that did surprise me, given the book’s subtitle, was the relative lack of examples from and discussion of computerisation in libraries. The final chapter is rather pedestrian in its vision; the term “the virtual library” does not appear in the text once and the only quotation used is from de Solla Price about the number of scientists. Elsewhere, there are occasional comments where appropriate, but I had the feeling that the author was nodding rather superficially in the direction of the computer age, without being fully engaged by it. Overall my impression was that the book goes up to the computer age but then fails to embrace its implications, potentialities, even threats. The book was originally published in hardback in 1998, and the appearance of this paperback version in 2001 merely underlines the difficulties commentators have in dealing effectively with such a rapidly changing aspect of library and information work.

Lerner writes clearly and precisely, making this book a comfortable read. The narrative is easy to follow, and although he provides a potentially mind‐numbing array of names, dates and places, he also includes both amusing anecdotes and thought‐provoking comments to keep readers entertained and on their toes. I was particularly struck by his statement that “libraries and librarians have always existed at the margins of the society they served” (p. 199), a conclusion that would simply not be worth debating if we replaced the term “library” with “information”. Perhaps more than 14 illustrations could have been included, and they are not well signposted. The discussion on St Gall (p. 45) does not include a direct reference to a plan of the monastery located elsewhere in the text, although it is mentioned in the index. Given the amount of factual information provided, the index holds up very well in terms of accuracy and comprehensiveness, even if there should be two entries under Hadrian, one for the emperor of Rome and the other for the seventh century abbot. The text is also generally error free, which makes the inclusion of the same two sentences, word for word, on pages 200 and 211 all the more noticeable, especially as they are important summarising remarks.

Specialist library historians will quibble with specific aspects. I, for instance, noticed that Alistair Black’s ground‐breaking first book on The History of Public Libraries in England (published in 1996) is not mentioned in the bibliography. Indeed, the bibliography, although being comprehensive in one sense and listing a convincing variety of sources, carries a fair number of older items. It is difficult not to suspect, as with the Black example, that more up‐to‐date material was available. Nor was I happy with the way that the discussion on the feminisation (pp. 198‐200) of the public library chronologically lumped the USA and the UK together, when it is quite clear that the preponderance of women employees in early US public libraries was simply not replicated in the UK until many decades later.

Which brings me to my final point – what is the target audience for this book? Library history scarcely figures in the curriculum of the schools and departments of library/information/knowledge studies/management/science/systems (perm any appropriate combination) in the UK. Moreover, despite the important role played by the library as an institution in social, educational and cultural history, it does not seem to have made any real impact in those academic subject areas either. So, there is little place for Lerner’s book as a useful introductory or set text in the teaching environment. Nor can I really see it appealing to the general reading public, which presumably leaves the interested layperson and the dedicated library historian – not a very large group. That is a pity as there is much to be learned from this book.