Do you, who love books, really understand the library?
An in-depth parade of the world's major libraries from ancient times to the present, from the inside to the outside
Explore the mysteries of the library's operations and witness mysterious collections, art, and magic
A "confession letter" from a book lover to the library!
"Library Miscellaneous" is rich and colorful, all-encompassing, with concise and clear historical stories, strange anecdotes, and "cold knowledge" that benefits a lot, with a huge amount of information!
In it, you can get a glimpse of the world's major libraries, you can also learn about the strange libraries and showrooms, follow the author to explore the secrets of library operation, learn professional library terminology, get close to the amazing collection of books and collections behind the strange people and strange things, and learn everything about the library!
"Library Miscellaneous" takes you to know different libraries. This book not only takes you through the whole picture of the global library, but also selects some of the world's most famous and representative library collections and work details for individual and detailed introduction, as well as a variety of strange libraries and related anecdotes in the world.
Selected readings
Mobile library
Mobile libraries began to meet the needs of local residents who did not have a library to read books. The first mobile libraries appeared in the form of horse-drawn wagons, and in Britain, the first such mobile libraries were introduced in 1857 by the Victorian philanthropist George Moore: the library was a horse-drawn wagon with books, moving back and forth between 8 villages in Cumbria.
Another early mobile library was the Warrington Circuit Mobile Library, founded in 1858 by the Warrington Institute of Mechanics. In 1905, a librarian at the Washington County Public Library realized that the library's lending service could not reach remote rural areas, and at his initiative, Washington County opened a mobile library service. The library arranged a truck full of books to bring the books in the countryside for residents who could not afford to borrow books from the library.
Britain's first mobile library on motor vehicles was a Ford-brand van with more than 900 books. In 1920, Perthshire, Scotland, also began using motor vehicles as mobile libraries. Mobile library services are still thriving in the world today, and there are many ways to use them as a means of transportation for libraries, such as camels used by Kenyans, on-board libraries in western Norway, "libraries" for elephants in Thailand, and "libraries on bicycles" in Seattle Public Libraries.
Magician Library
The Magic Art Research Center in Manhattan, New York, was built in 2003. The main function of this non-profit organization is to collect books, that is, to collect books on magic and hypnosis, abdominal language, magic blindfolding, juggling and other related techniques. At present, the museum has more than 12,000 books in the field of magic, covering works written in many languages around the world, and even rare manuscripts dating back to the 15th century. One of the hall's halls is the literature of early magic, including more than 500 books printed and published before 1700. In addition to books, the museum also houses a sizable number of magic periodicals and historical manuscripts documenting various magic tricks, as well as about 20,000 correspondence letters from magicians, including letters from the famous "card master" Ed Marlowe (1913-1991).
The institute is open to the public, but must make an appointment in advance if you need to consult the literature.
Smell Library
The Osmothèque Museum (etymology comes from the Greek words osme and theke, meaning "scent" and "storage", respectively) is a perfume archive in the Palace of Versailles in France. Built in 1990, this perfume treasure trove has a collection of more than 3,200 perfumes, of which 400 are "out of print" that have been discontinued. The museum's collection is a history of perfume making, and many perfume brands and sellers have donated samples of their perfumes to Osmotic, including old ones from previous ones as well as new ones in the season, in order to preserve their perfume recipes. The perfumes are stored in a special dark room with a constant temperature of 12 °C and protected by an inert layer of argon. The museum houses a collection of very old perfumes that have long since been out of print, such as the "Hungarian Queen's Water" born in the 14th century and the "Napoleon of St. Helena" Cologne in 1820. Although not open to the public, Osmotic hosts a number of symposia and seminars every year, giving perfume fans the opportunity to explore the secrets of these perfumes.
Future Library
In 2014, artist Katie Patterson advocated for the creation of a "Library of the Future," a project that plans to collect 100 works by 100 writers worldwide over the next 100 years. The works will be sealed intact at the Oslo Library until 2114, when 3,000 copies of each work will be printed and published to meet a wide range of readers.
The first to submit her work was Canadian writer Margaret Atwood. In 2015, Atwood released the title of the work, "The Moon of the Literati," but didn't publish any other details, and it didn't know if it was a novel, poetry, or other genre, or whether it was just one word or 100,000 words. In 2016, a second writer, David Mitchell, also got involved, submitting his work The Little River Of Time That Flowed From Me.
Each author participating in the project is required to submit an electronic version of the work and a paper version of the work, and promise not to disclose the content of the work, so that these secrets will be kept in the dust until 2114. Patterson also planted 1,000 trees in the Nurmaka Forest in Oslo, Norway, which will provide printing raw materials for the books in 2114.
Art Library
Libraries are not just "repositories" of books and manuscripts, but sometimes they also hold different materials. In the world, there are many "art libraries" that collect and display all kinds of art, from sculptures to contemporary fashion works. Here are a few of the famous art libraries.
The National Gallery of Art is located in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and is a national collection and archive of fine and decorative arts. The museum's collection of more than 1 million pieces includes photographs, prints, paintings, paintings, fabrics, furniture, sculptures, glassware, ceramic crafts and fashion art. The art of book design is also one of the library's key collections, so people can find many early printed books and beautifully bound books in the library.
The Rijksmuseum Library in Amsterdam is part of the Rijksmuseum and houses more than 350,000 books and materials on art history. The museum's collection is dominated by the history of oil painting, printmaking and sculpture in Western Europe from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, as well as other interesting sources, such as the record of more than 60,000 art auction lists between 1722 and 1932.
The Avelli Library of Architecture and Art, located at Columbia University in New York, is the world's largest professional library of architecture. The museum houses the first published architectural work in the West, On Architecture (1485) by the famous Italian Renaissance artist Leon Batista Alberti, and has a database of American architectural masters Frank Lloyd Wright.
Seed Library
"Seed libraries" are often used to preserve and display plant seeds. Some "seed libraries" are located in traditional libraries, which can be used free of charge by local people, in order to encourage people to take the seeds home to plant and then "return" the new seeds of the plants. "Seed libraries" are usually based on preserving "old seeds" that are no longer cultivated in today's cropping industry, or collecting locally endemic seed species. In the United States, there are various controversies about such "seed libraries", and since 2012, the USDA has promulgated commercial regulations for some "seed libraries", and this part of the "seed library" has also been closed. Fortunately, some state governments have adopted laws to protect "seed libraries", so the industry has slowly begun to re-develop.
Presidential Library
In 1914, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established his own library as a repository for his personal collection and various documents related to his presidency, making him the first U.S. president to establish a personal library. Since then, every U.S. president has chosen a library to store all the documents of his or her tenure. In 1955, the passage and implementation of the Presidential Library Act also gave legal recognition and guarantee to the establishment of the "Presidential Library". As of 2021, there are 15 presidential libraries in the United States.
