We humans generally look ahead and think about the future. You can’t go back, right? And as we progress as a species, we find ways of making our lives better: thank the scientists and other brainy boffins for imagining and creating airplanes, automobiles, wi-fi and personal devices that make our lives complete. And, focusing on the personal devices, they sure come in handy if we have a long flight, don’t they? The world’s knowledge on a thin slice of silicon. We humans are really something.
But did you know that, just a few years back, our predecessors had very much the same thing as the Kindle? And when we say just a few years back, we’re talking about the 17th century. Say hello to the “Jacobean Travelling Library.” A traveling library is a collection of books lent for stated periods by a central library to a branch library, club, or other organization or, in some instances, to an individual. The chief characteristics from which it derives its name are its temporary location in the place to which the collections of books is sent and the implication that any traveling library will or may be changed for another collection of books. A bookmobile is an example.
The great advantages of the traveling library are economy, mobility, and adaptability. The collection is limited to books definitely chosen for some purpose. The obsolete and useless are eliminated. The frequent change of collections gives each group or community receiving the libraries access to the volumes in all the groups. Books on timely topics or those needed to meet changes in community taste can in this way be provided at a minimum cost. The traveling library can be put into the home, the store, or wherever people congregate. It is not limited to any one place. No permanent building or special assistant is needed to make it give fairly satisfactory service if intelligence in selection is shown by the library which issues it. The only records needed are the simplest types of lending records. Learn more about this useful and unsung example of people helping people. Read more here.
And it’s not just ancient manuscripts that get the attention. Have a look above.