This work describes the crucial role libraries played in ancient Egypt, Han-dynasty China, the ancient Western Classical world (the great library of Alexandria, which was lost to us in stages over many years), the Baghdad of Harun-al-Rashid, and medieval and Renaissance Europe. It continues with the libraries of colonial America, the Library of Congress, university libraries, and today's large public library system.

This work describes the crucial role libraries played in ancient Egypt, Han-dynasty China, the ancient Western Classical world (the great library of Alexandria, which was lost to us in stages over many years), the Baghdad of Harun-al-Rashid, and medieval and Renaissance Europe. It continues with the libraries of colonial America, the Library of Congress, university libraries, and today's large public library system. >

While the importance of writing has often been recognized, the role of books and especially that of libraries has just as often been slighted. Knowledge, once generated, has to be communicated, preserved, and accessible. Books in their varying formats—from clay tablets to scrolls and manuscripts to pixels—have been instrumental in spreading knowledge, although relatively little attention has been given to the story of books themselves. A Social History of Books and Libraries from Cuneiform to Bytes traces the roles of books and libraries throughout recorded history and explores their social and cultural importance within differing societies and changing times. It presents the history of books from clay tablets to e-books and the history of libraries, whether built of bricks or bytes. Following an introduction that sets the theoretical basis for the historical importance of books and libraries, chapters alternate between the history of the book and the history of libraries. Included within the chapters are short excursions on some particular development, such as book emblems or cataloging. Case studies are given as thematic illustrations of libraries everywhere. Patrick M. Valentine argues that social and cultural forces have been more influential in determining the nature and status of information, books, and libraries than has technology. But A Social History of Books and Libraries is far from a jeremiad against technology; rather it presents history within the subtle yet shifting context of time and place. Although written primarily for librarians and library students, it will also be of interest to a wider audience of scholars and those interested in books, libraries, and cultural history.

Everyone who has a library card (and those who don't will want one after reading this book) will love this fascinating account of how libraries have evolved. From camels delivering books in Kenya to information compression today, this is a book that's long overdue! Award-winning librarian Maureen Sawa takes readers on a breathless ride from the origins of libraries to the first bookshelves, from pack-horse librarians in Kentucky to the revolution that was vertical shelving. She presents familiar library heroes like Gutenberg and Benjamin Franklin and the more obscure ones, such as Hypatia, the great female librarian of Alexandria killed by a mob for opposing the teachings of Plato, and Vizier Abdul Kasem Ismail, the Persian bibliophile who traveled with forty camels carrying 117,000 books in alphabetical order. Libraries, past, present, and future, have a history as fascinating as the books they house. A must-have for every reader!

This edition of the History of Libraries in the Western World represents a substantial revision of the earlier edition, taking into account the information revolution that has swept the West since 1945 and the political revolution that swept across Europe beginning in 1986.