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A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals , who are also civil servants .
Boston Public Library: A Centennial History (Harvard University Press, 1956) Wiegand, Wayne A. Main Street Public Library: Community Places and Reading Spaces in the Rural Heartland, 1876–1956 (University of Iowa Press, 2011) Wiegand, Wayne A. A Part of Our Lives: A History of the American Public Library (Oxford University press, 2015).
The term library is based on the Latin word liber for 'book' or 'document', contained in Latin libraria 'collection of books' and librarium 'container for books'. Other modern languages use derivations from Ancient Greek βιβλιοθήκη (bibliothēkē), originally meaning 'book container', via Latin bibliotheca (cf. French bibliothèque or German Bibliothek).
The history of libraries began with the first efforts to organize collections of documents.Topics of interest include accessibility of the collection, acquisition of materials, arrangement and finding tools, the book trade, the influence of the physical properties of the different writing materials, language distribution, role in education, rates of literacy, budgets, staffing, libraries for ...
Library circulation or library lending comprises the activities around the lending of library books and other material to users of a lending library. A circulation or lending department is one of the key departments of a library. The main public service point is the circulation desk or loans desk, usually found near the main entrance of a library.
A public library is a public place. A rest stop or truck stop is a public space. For these "semi-public" spaces stricter rules may apply than outside, e.g. regarding dress code, trading, begging, advertising, photography, propaganda, riding rollerskates, skateboards, a Segway, etc.
The Boston Public Library is also Massachusetts' Library for the Commonwealth [5] (formerly library of last recourse), [6] meaning all adult residents of the state are entitled to borrowing and research privileges, and the library receives state funding.
The online public access catalog (OPAC), now frequently synonymous with library catalog, is an online database of materials held by a library or group of libraries. Online catalogs have largely replaced the analog card catalogs previously used in libraries.