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Chetham's Library in Manchester, which claims to be the oldest public library in the English-speaking world, opened in 1653. [108] Other early town libraries of the UK include those of Ipswich (1612), Bristol (founded in 1613 and opened in 1615), and Leicester (1632). Shrewsbury School also opened its library to townsfolk. [109]
Chetham's Library in Manchester, England, is the oldest free public reference library in the English-speaking world. [1] Chetham's Hospital, which contains both the library and Chetham's School of Music, was established in 1653 under the will of Humphrey Chetham (1580–1653), for the education of "the sons of honest, industrious and painful parents", [1] and a library for the use of scholars.
Norwich City library was established in 1608 [15] (six years after Thomas Bodley founded the Bodleian Library, which was open to the "whole republic of the learned") and Chetham's Library in Manchester, which claims to be the oldest public library in the English-speaking world, opened in 1653.
The Al Qarawiyyin Library was founded in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri and is the oldest working library in the world. It is in Fez, Morocco and is part of the oldest continually operating university in the world, the University of al-Qarawiyyin .
The first free public library supported by taxation in the world was the Peterborough, New Hampshire Town Library which was founded at town meeting on April 9, 1833. [12] Many sources claim to have been the first, such as Boston's Public Library , which was the second, established in 1852.
Humphrey Chetham (10 July 1580 – 1653) was an English textile merchant, financier and philanthropist, responsible for the creation of Chetham's Hospital and Chetham's Library, the oldest public library in the English-speaking world. [1] [2]
Having been open to the public since 1609, it is considered the oldest public library in Europe along with the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan and the Bodleian in Oxford. [1] [2] The library holds about over 200,000 volumes, about half of which makes up the 'fondo antico' (15th-18th century editions). [3]
The Biblioteca Palafoxiana is a library in Puebla City's historic centre, in the Mexican state of PueblaFounded in 1646, it is recognized by the UNESCO for being the first and oldest public library in the Americas, [1] [2] [3] It has more than 45,000 books and manuscripts, ranging from the 15th to the 20th century.