Paragraph on “The First Libraries” complete paragraph for Class 9, Class 10, Class 11 and Class 12

The First Libraries

The first libraries are known to have existed during the Mesopotamian civilisation over 8000 years ago. The Mesopotamians use to write on wet clay tablets, by making wedge shaped marks on them, these tablets were then baked and preserved. During archaeological excavations a large number of these tablets have been uncovered from temple and palace sites. The Egyptians also had large libraries, under the charge of priests, with rolled sheets of papyrus stored on shelves and in chests. The largest and most famous library of that age was the one in Alexandria with a collection of over 7,00,000 scrolls fully classified into various categories. Subsequently the Romans began the first public library system and later in the Christian era they were set up in churches and monasteries. The biggest library in the world today is in the University of Oxford which was founded in the beginning of the fifteenth century.