BobRingReflections

Libraries have always played a big part in my life.  Pat was a law librarian.  My youngest son, Steven, is a library administrator, and his wife Lynne just retired as a children’s librarian.  I read at least two books per week for pleasure - most from the local library.  In the last 18 years, I’ve written newspaper columns, books, and for the last three years, a blog - this being my 59 th posting.  In other words, for a long time, I have used libraries for reading pleasure and research - and I really appreciate their value.   So, as often happens in my quest to write about subjects I want to learn more about, I decided to research and write about the history of libraries.  After a brief introduction, I’ll cover the Ancient World, Classical Antiquity, the Islamic World, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the Age of Enlightenment, the evolution to modern libraries, a summary of United States library history, and end with a discussion of the changing role of libraries. I will foc