Figure 1.--Reading is important to a child's future. American children has an advantage over children in many other countries because of a wonderful public library system. Here we see a New York Public Library branch with an interesting display promoting books about the different states. The ophotograph is undated, but looks like the 1930s.

American children in terms of books and reading were at an advantage to children in most other countries because of a wonderful public library system. The printing press was invented in Europe (1440s), before yjer discovery of America. This reduced the cost of books, but they were still relatively expensive. Educated peopled, primarily ministers and doctors, acquired small private libraries in colonial times. But books were not available to the generl public. The only book in many family homes was the Bible. Churches and colleges began amassing libraries, but they tended to be quite small, even in the 18th century. Church collections were available to parishioners, but the collections were limited and as there were no organized administration, the collections often declined rther than increased over time. As colleges began to develop in colonial America, they began to build libraries. A major step was Reverend John Harvard bequeathed a new, Boston college about 280 books and an endowment (1638). This was a major step in making Harvard University one of the outstamding academic instituitions in america. Still books were not available to the general public. A major step to address this problem was when Benjamin Franklin who was amassing a notable collection of books organized a subscription-based book lending service in Philadelphia (1731). Thomas Jefferson amassed the greatest collection of books in America. His collection would become the foundation of the Library of Congress. Slowly in the 19th century, the large north-eastern cities began founding public libraries. Boston is commonly seen as the first city to found a public library in the modern sense (1854). It was Scottish immigrant industrialist Andrew Carnrgie (1835-1911) that would help America develop the greatest public library system in the world. Public libraries made books available to any American at no cost. And these libraries began stocking books for children.

Created: 9:59 PM 1/13/2011
Last updated: 9:59 PM 1/13/2011