When did libraries begin?

Library

Libraries began thousands of years ago as archives in which records, maps and other important documents were kept.

The word “library” comes from the Latin word “liber” which means “book.”  There have been libraries almost as long as there have been books.

The first real libraries we know of existed thousands of years ago in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt.  The “books’ in these early librarians did not look at all like ours.  They were written by hand on tablets of clay and on long rolls of papyrus (a paper-like material) and were kept in temples and palaces.

The first public libraries were built in ancient Greece more that 2,000 years ago, but they were only open to scholars.  They were the only people who could read books.  During medieval times books written by hand on parchment paper were so precious that they were often  chained to the shelves.

As libraries developed over the centuries, they grew from small collections available to only a few scholars to large public libraries open to everyone.-Dick Rogers

How did museums start?

Museum

Museum as we know them today grew out of the private collections started by wealthy people during the middle ages.

Where could you go to see an Egyptian mummy or the paintings of great artists?  Where could you see the bones of dinosaur?  The answer is “a museum.”

Just you may collect stamps or coins, museums are places that collect and display valuable art works, stuffed animals and many other interesting historical and scientific objects.

The first museums were founded in ancient Egypt.  They were usually places where art, music and the sciences were studied.  Museums as we know them did not develop until many centuries later.

They grew out of the private collections of works of art and other treasures started by wealthy people during the Middle Ages.  Today there are many different kinds of museums to visit.  Art museums, for example, collect and show paintings, statues and other masterpieces of art.

And you can see model dinosaurs in museums of natural history.-Dick Rogers