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The Rise of Circulating Libraries — 6 Comments

  1. I’m so pleased that libraries became popular and continue to this day. As a child we didn’t have the money to buy many books so I relied on birthday and Christmas gifts as well as books passed from a family friend (some of which I still have as they were favourites of mine and my children)
    However my greatest joy was my weekly library visit. I had 2 tickets but I also used my two brothers’ tickets so I had 6 books a week – such joy. Over the years I think I must have read almost every novel in the library. I also got books from my school library 🙂
    I worked in a large town and was able to join their library with tickets for 10 books at a time (bliss). I encouraged my children by reading to them from their being babies and they too love books and are now spreading the love to their own children.
    I now mostly read Darcy and Elizabeth based JAFF which I can’t get enough of and thanks to kindle I can buy enough to keep me happy (especially as I do like to re read my favourites).
    So yes I would say that libraries have played a big part in my life.

  2. In Mansfield Park, Fanny’s father read a borrowed paper and Fanny introduced her sister Susan to the circulating library.

    My mother was an avid reader. She and her sister were always the first two on the library waiting list for any new book being launched. My aunt would read it first because she could devour a book in a night or two before giving it to mother. The librarians enjoyed their enthusiasm and liked the short turn-around with them and always notified them of any upcoming release.

    My first memories of the library was when it was located in a donated building. The estate had been a private residence and I remember falling in love when I walked into that glorious room. It had to be something like what Elizabeth saw when she entered the Darcy House Library. It had dark woods and spiral staircases on each side of the room that lead to the stacks on the second story complete with open balconies. OMG! I still have that burned in my memory. That had to be 60 years ago. It killed me when they remodeled and took out that mezzanine. I realize elevators were necessary but, I grieved the loss of those beautiful wooden spiral staircases. I loved that library.

  3. This is a fascinating read. I thought of becoming a librarian at one point in my career (when I graduated with a BA in literature and couldn’t figure out what to do with it). I’ve thought about applying to our local library to work now that I’m done with homeschooling, but I’m keeping plenty busy with teaching online courses and my essay grading business. 🙂

    The novel does seem to be a consumable although I’m sure that novels were checked out for re-reading from time to time. As a devoted re-reader of novels, I find that I don’t do as well with a Kindle Unlimited subscription because I race through the novels far too quickly (to get my money’s worth) and then can’t go back to re-read them once my subscription is over. (I only take a subscription when I know I’ll have some downtime, such as over the Christmas holy days and summer breaks.) Otherwise, I stick to my own local library which is the social hub of our small town of devoted readers.

    We have a new librarian in our town of 1500 souls, and she was astonished at how many adults took part in the summer reading program–many more than in the kids’ program, something she’d never seen in our county libraries. We had thirty people at the prize drawing; I myself put in 20 tickets (each ticket represents ten hours of reading from June 1 to August 31). It helps that the prizes are awesome; I won a Kindle Fire 7!! (Which I promptly gave to my daughter for her business since I have a Fire 8 but mostly read from my beloved 1st gen Paperwhite.) I’m always checking the daily e-book “sales” on Book Gorilla and Bookbub, then I check to see if our library has the books I want and place orders with a statewide consortium of public and university libraries to obtain the books for free. 🙂 When we have had six people living on less than 2/3 of the median middle-class income mentioned above, we tend to obtain reading materials for free when we can. 😉

    Thanks for this fascinating look at the advent of the circulating library, Maria Grace!! I look forward to the next installment!!

    Warmly,
    Susanne 🙂

    • It is amazing how readers will find a way to get books in their hands, whether it was hundreds of years ago leading to the rise of the circulating library, or today with all of the options you mentioned!

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