LIBRA 



3402 



LIBRARY 



the Northern states as a local organization, but 

 it was finally absorbed by the Republican 

 party in 1856. See POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE 

 UNITED STATES. 



LI 'BRA, a Latin word meaning the balance, 

 is in astronomy the seventh sign of the zodiac, 

 represented by the symbol ==, resembling a 

 pair of scales. The symbol probably alludes 



to the fact that when the sun enters that part 

 of the ecliptic at the autumnal equinox (about 

 September 23) the days and the nights are 

 equal. The term also refers to a constellation 

 included by Ptolemy in his forty-eight groups 

 of stars, which is situated south of the celestial 

 equator and east of the sign Virgo. See ZODIAC ; 

 ASTRONOMY; ECLIPTIC. 



IBRARY. The term is derived from 

 the Latin liber, meaning book. The Latin 

 word libraria, however, signified a place where 

 books or written documents were kept for sale, 

 and in this sense it has been transferred to the 

 modern languages of Latin origin. In English 

 the primary meaning is a building or room in 

 which books are kept, in some sort of order or 

 classification, for reading or study; secondarily, 

 it means the books. Most commonly the word 

 connotes both together. All other modern 

 languages have followed the usage of the 

 ancients in applying the Greek word biblio- 

 theke.to this conception. 



Libraries may be either private or public. 

 The former are the property of individuals 

 who collect and maintain them for their private 

 use or gratification. Public libraries, with 

 which this article is mainly concerned, are 

 those to which the public is admitted. They 

 may be wholly free, in which case they are 

 often called free libraries, or free public libra- 

 ries, to distinguish them from subscription li- 

 braries maintained by fees or subscriptions of 

 members. The latter are still properly classed 

 as public libraries if their privileges are of- 

 fered upon equal terms to all. Examples of 

 such are the Mercantile and Mechanics' Insti- 

 tute libraries which flourished in great numbers 

 in the United States and England before the 

 introduction of municipally-supported public 

 libraries fifty years ago. Somewhat analagous 

 are the modern commercial concerns which rent 

 or lend books, generally new novels, for a small 

 fee per day or week or for an annual sub- 

 scription. The name book exchange is com- 

 monly applied to them. 



College and society libraries are also classed 

 with public libraries, as distinguished from pri- 

 vate libraries, especially when, as is generally 

 the case, they extend their privileges to edu- 

 cated and properly authenticated members of 

 the community. Public libraries, both free and 

 subscription, may be either circulating libraries, 

 permitting the withdrawal of books for home 

 use, or reference libraries, restricting readers to 

 the use of books on the library premises. In 

 the United States most free public libraries 

 are both circulating and reference libraries. 

 There are, however, some notable exceptions, 

 as the library of Peabody Institute, Baltimore; 

 the Boston Athenaeum; Pratt Institute Free 

 Library, Brooklyn, and the Newberry Library 

 and John Crerar Library, both in Chicago, all 

 free reference libraries, and all founded and 

 maintained from bequests or endowments. 

 They are uniformly of a scholarly character, 

 and tend toward specialization in some one 

 or more department of knowledge. 



American Libraries. The first library to be 

 established on American soil was that of Har- 

 vard University, founded in 1638, six years 

 after the college, and followed in 1700 by Yale. 

 These two are still among the greatest college 

 libraries in America and, in common with most 

 of their type, admit the educated public more 

 or less freely to their shelves. In 1696 the Rev. 

 Thomas Bray was sent from England to Mary- 

 land as superintendent of religious affairs, and 

 introduced a number of small parochial or 

 church libraries into the American colonies as 

 an a.d to his work. These were open to the 

 public. The Philadelphia Library was founded 

 as a joint-stock company in 1731 by Benjamin 



