Libraries Collection

Alexandria Library
Scholars examine the scrolls of the library of Alexandria, the greatest collection of the ancient world, burnt in 47 and finally destroyed by Moslem general Amrou 22 December 640

Girl on Library Ladder
The girl on the library ladder

British Museum - reading room
The great domed reading room at the British Museum, forerunner of the British Library 1952

Dewey Decimal System
Card index showing use of the Dewey Decimal Classification system, the most widely used library classification system, devised by Melvil Dewey in the 1870s

Hereford Chained Library
Chained books in the library of Hereford Cathedral

Christ Church Library
The interior of Christ Church Library, Oxford showing ceiling to floor bookshelves. A student is shown working. Two ladies are being given a tour in the background

Lending Library Ticket
Ticket for G Hitchcock, Williams & Co Young Mens Library. Book: S58 has been borrowed for 7 days from a private lending library possibly at a booksellers

Exterior of British Museum - reading room 1855
Construction of the great Reading Room of the British Museum, the forerunner of the British Library Date: 1855

Mobile library in an English village
Enthusiastic readers line up to enter a mobile library in an unidentified rural village in the 1950s. Date: 1950s

The library of Lucullus, general & statesman, known for his lavish lifestyle

William Baker Oxford Bookcase Advertisement
An advertisement for William Baker & Co. Ltd. promoting the Oxford sectional bookcase, well made, handsome and inexpensive, a popular choice for libraries. Date: circa 1920

SPAIN. Madrid. National Library. Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Madrid National Library. Protecting with sandbags the rooms where the most valuable books and are kept. SPAIN. Barcelona

Schoolgirls in uniform studying in a library. Date: circa 1965

Thompson Memorial Library, Poughkeepsie, NY State, USA
Thompson Memorial Library, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York State, USA. Date: circa 1915

Adriance Memorial Library, Poughkeepsie, NY State, USA
Adriance Memorial Library, Poughkeepsie, New York State, USA. Date: circa 1915

Nepean Point and Parliament Library, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Nepean Point, with the Parliament Library in the distance on the right, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. From this point royal salutes are fired, hence the line of cannons. Date: circa 1910

Interior, Parliament Library, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Interior of the Parliament Library, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, built in the style of a chapter house and inspired by the British Museum Reading Room. Date: circa 1910

Parliament Library, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Parliament Library, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Date: circa 1910

Interior of the free public Library and Museum, Liverpool. Date: 1875

The exterior of Lichfield Public Library, Staffordshure, England. Date: late 1960s

Interior view of the then new modern library at Bebington, Merseyside, England. Date: early 1970s

A harvest time view of the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire, Wales, showing the stooks in the fields behind the building. Date: 1960s

La Bibliotheque du Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers is housed in the former refectory of the Abbaye St Martin des Champs, Paris Date: circa 1860

Interior of the reading room at the London Library, in St. Jamess Square. Date: 1900

The Public Library. Springfield. Date: 1920

Kings Library, Buckingham House 1775
Interior of Kings Library, Buckingham House. Date: 1775

MACCLESFIELD FREE LIBRARY
Exterior view of the new Free Library in Macclesfield, Cheshire Date: 1878

Library of Alexandria - Egypt
Ptolemy I Soter inaugurates the great library at Alexandria Date: circa 370 BC

Eastbourne Public Library, Sussex, England, a truly modern integrated library, the Reference Library being on the same shelves as the rest of the books. Date: 1960s

Holywell Street off The Strand, London - demolished when The Strand was widened in 1901. Date: circa 1900

The Bibliotheque Imperiale (now Nationale), Paris
A view of the Bibliotheque Imperiale (now Nationale), Paris Date: 1868

Barnabys Library
The Georgian shop at 19 Rathbone Street (off Oxford Street), London, which housed Barnabys Picture Library (established 1931) from 1969 until it closed in 2001. Date: 1969 - 2001

Eastbourne Library
Eastbourne Public Library, Sussex, England, a truly modern integrated library, the Reference Library being on the same shelves as the rest of the books. Date: 1960s

Holywell Street and Wych Street from The Strand, London - demolished when The Strand was widened in 1901. Date: circa 1900

Library, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
Don L Love Memorial Library, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. Date: 1941

University Library, Los Angeles, California, USA
Edward L Doheny Jr Memorial Library, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. circa 1930s

Public Library, Los Angeles, California, USA. Date: circa 1930s

Trinity College Library, Cambridge University, designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. The books in this part of the library date from the 8th century AD to 1830. Date: 1967

The Reichstag Library, which escaped the fire which gutted the building in February 1933. Date: early 1930s

Barnabys Shelves
Shelves of box files, arranged in subject order at Barnabys Picture Library. Date: 1980s

Barnabys Box Files
An employee of Barnabys Picture Library shows a visitor his way around the collection. The prints are kept in boxes on shelves, which you can see here. Date: 1960s

Ancient Arab Library
Arab scholars at work in a library; probably in Istanbul Date: circa 16th century

Manchester Free Library
Exterior view of the Manchester Free Library Date: 1851

Bibliotheque Nationale
BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE, Paris Behind the scenes - the magasin central where the books are stacked : there are more books in the basement. Date: 1893

Free Public Library
Various scenes from a typical Saturday night in a free public library Date: 1882

Scarborough Library
The public lending library at Scarborough. Date: 1813

Working in Bodleian
Someone at work at a table of the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Date: 1842

Library of H. G. Wells
Architect Frank Wells, son of the famous author H.G. Wells, reading in the library of his fathers home at Chiltern Court, London. Burmese figures support the book shelves. Date: 1930s

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