History Magazine has a ‘reprint’ of a 2001 article on the history of libraries online which is worth a read if you need to refresh your memories on the long and mostly illustrious timeline of libraries. It’s been years since I seriously read anything about the history of libaries and I found a few interesting details in this article. Two of which:

• “Libraries were typically open during standard business hours – sunrise to midday” in Roman times
• Benedict’s rule for the monastery — “Between Easter and the calends of October let them apply themselves to reading from the fourth hour until the sixth hour . . . From the calends of October to the beginning of Lent, let them apply themselves to reading until the second hour. During Lent, let them apply themselves to reading from morning until the end of the third hour, and in these days of Lent, let them receive a book apiece from the library and read it straight through. These books are to be given out at the beginning of Lent.”

Barbara Krasner-Khait. Survivor: The History of the Library History Magazine. (http://www.history-magazine.com/libraries.html)