Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1912-11-16
France and England Have the
Largest, While the United
States Ranks Third, Although
the People of This Country Are
the Greatest Readers.

lage there is some sort Of a IL
q brary. 1t may be only a tav-
cling library or some other kind,
but the fact remains that nearly every
one In the United States has an OPP
portunity to procure almost any popu-
lar book free or for q very small pay
ment
Not in every country are the people
SO fortunate as in the United States
Although they all have books-and in
two instances foreigners have greater
collections than the library of con-
gress, which contains Americas larg-
est number of books under one roof
in no one country Is knowledge spread
in this way SO extensively as 1t is in
the United States
Libraries are not modern inSt1tu-
tons as many people seem to believe
There is ample proof that the Anglo
Saxon kings of England were dispos-
ed to erect them, and works were
brought from Ireland where science
had been cultivated much earlier than
IN Great Britain.
But the invasions of the Normans
stopped the spread Of libraries, and
the first after the invasion was estab-
Hshed IN oxford, at Durham (now
Trinity college, in the thirteenth cen
fury. Before that time books were
kept In chests and not in rooms styled
libraries. At the end of the seven
teenth century there were only six
libraries in Great Britain
ALLAN RAMsAY's IDEA
The first circulating library was
founded by Allan Ramsay in 1725. So
successful were his efforts that within
seven years every town and large vii
lage possessed library.
The largest library in the world is
the Bibliotheque Rationale, in Paris.
1t was founded in the year 1867 by
King John, who collected go books
and put them in the tower of the old
Louvre During the hundred years
war these books were scattered. Many
of them fell into the hands of the Eng
fish and were carried to London Louis
NI. tried to revive the library, and
Henry Nv. gave it place in the Col
lege de Clarmont and appointed De
Thou as the librarian. Two of the
librarians were guillotined during the
French revolution.
The building is situated In the heart
of Paris, occupying a whole square of
land 1t contains about 100000 vol
umes and more than thirty miles of
shelving.
THE BRITISH MUSEUM
The British museum, the largest Ii
brary in the United Kingdom, is the
second in size to the Bibliotheque Ma
tionale.
The British museum makes a special
ty of foreign literature and archaeology.
Among the collections are 12,C00 He
brew books, 27,000 Chinese books, 13.-
coo books in other oriental languages
and a large collection of periodicals
and newspapers filed and bound Its
treasures include manuscripts from the
second century before Christ to mod
ern times, a complete set of the seals
of England's sovereigns from Edward
the ConfeSsor to King Edward VII.
The library OF the British museum
was first opened in Montague House
in 1854. and its present building, plan
ned by Sir Anthony Panizzi, was occu-
pied in 1917.
The large circular reading room, now
its most important architectural fea-
ture. was added in 1857. This building
Is centrally located and well adapted
to library purposes 1t accommodates
$50 readers, who have access to 10000
reference books In comparison with
the library of congress. however, the
British museum is antiquated and
clumsy in its working methods
The library of congress Is the third