閱讀前先看 Before you read
- 主題
- How free public libraries developed
- 文章重點
- Free public libraries are a recent invention. Earlier libraries served scholars or paying members; only after the 1850 Public Libraries Act and Carnegie's philanthropy did "free, tax-funded, open to all" become normal.
- 難度
- 中等 · Intermediate
- 建議時間
- 17 分鐘
重要單字
- novelty — the quality of being new or unfamiliar / 新奇
- subscription — a paid arrangement for regular access / 訂閱、會員費
- municipal — belonging to a town or city government / 市立的
- philanthropy — the giving of money for public good / 慈善捐助
- civic — relating to a city or its citizens / 公民的
- ratepayer — a person who pays the local property tax / 納稅人
30 秒快速理解 30-second summary
For most of history, libraries served scholars or rulers, not the public. Eighteenth-century subscription libraries opened to fee-paying members. The decisive step was Britain's 1850 Public Libraries Act, which let councils fund free libraries from a property tax. From the 1880s, Andrew Carnegie funded over 2,500 library buildings worldwide, while requiring local communities to pay running costs.
逐段練習 Read paragraph by paragraph
1
段落 1 — Libraries before the public era
The idea that any citizen, regardless of wealth, may walk into a building and borrow books for free is so familiar today that its novelty is easy to miss. For most of recorded history, libraries existed mainly to serve scholars, priests or rulers, not the general public. The famous Library of Alexandria, founded in the third century BC, gathered hundreds of thousands of scrolls but admitted only approved researchers. Medieval European libraries, almost all attached to monasteries or universities, often chained their volumes to the desks and lent nothing.
本段重要單字 (3)
- novelty — the quality of being new / 新奇
- scholars — people who study deeply / 學者
- chained — fastened with a chain / 用鐵鍊綁住
Quick Check · 隨堂小測
What is the writer's main point in this paragraph?
- Free public libraries have always existed for ordinary citizens.
- For most of history, libraries did not serve the general public.
- Medieval libraries lent freely to anyone who asked.
看答案 · Show answer
答案：B — For most of history, libraries did not serve the general public.
The paragraph contrasts the modern "familiar" idea of free borrowing with historical libraries that "existed mainly to serve scholars, priests or rulers, not the general public".
2
段落 2 — Subscription libraries
The first lending libraries open to fee-paying members appeared in the eighteenth century, when growing literacy and falling book prices created a market that booksellers and clubs were quick to fill. Subscription libraries in cities such as Edinburgh and Philadelphia required a modest annual payment in exchange for borrowing rights, and were popular among middle-class readers who could not afford to buy every novel they wished to read. These were a step forward, but the poorest, who arguably needed books most, remained excluded.
本段重要單字 (3)
- subscription — a paid membership / 訂閱
- literacy — the ability to read and write / 識字
- excluded — kept out, not allowed / 排除在外
Quick Check · 隨堂小測
What limited the impact of subscription libraries?
- They were not popular among middle-class readers.
- The poorest readers could not afford even the modest fee.
- They had no books worth borrowing.
看答案 · Show answer
答案：B — The poorest readers could not afford even the modest fee.
The paragraph says subscription libraries were "a step forward, but the poorest, who arguably needed books most, remained excluded" — the fee shut out the neediest readers.
3
段落 3 — The 1850 Public Libraries Act
The decisive shift came in 1850, when the British Parliament passed the Public Libraries Act. The Act allowed local councils to fund free libraries from the rates — a small property tax — provided that ratepayers approved by a two-thirds majority. Manchester opened the first municipal lending library under the new law in 1852. Progress was slow at first because many councils were reluctant to raise taxes, but by 1900 most large British towns had established at least one public branch.
本段重要單字 (3)
- rates — a local property tax / 地方稅
- municipal — run by a town or city government / 市立的
- reluctant — unwilling, hesitant / 不情願的
Quick Check · 隨堂小測
What did the 1850 Act actually do?
- It forced every council to open a free library at once.
- It permitted councils to fund free libraries with ratepayer approval.
- It abolished all subscription libraries.
看答案 · Show answer
答案：B — It permitted councils to fund free libraries with ratepayer approval.
The text says the Act "allowed" — not "required" — councils to fund libraries, and only after ratepayers approved by a two-thirds majority. Permissive, not mandatory.
4
段落 4 — Carnegie and after
A second wave of expansion came from private philanthropy. Between 1883 and 1929, the Scottish-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie funded the construction of more than 2,500 library buildings around the world, with most concentrated in the United Kingdom and the United States. Carnegie did not endow the books or staff; he insisted that the local community fund the ongoing operation, on the grounds that a library supported only by its donor would not become genuinely civic. Today, in most developed countries, public libraries serve more functions than mere book lending — internet access, study spaces, language classes — but the principle established in 1850 still defines them: tax-funded, free at the point of use, and open to all.
本段重要單字 (3)
- philanthropy — charitable giving for public good / 慈善捐助
- endow — to give a permanent fund to / 捐贈基金
- civic — belonging to citizens as a community / 公民的
Quick Check · 隨堂小測
Why did Carnegie refuse to fund books and staff?
- He thought books were unnecessary in a library.
- He believed donor-only funding would stop libraries becoming truly civic.
- Local communities had asked him not to.
看答案 · Show answer
答案：B — He believed donor-only funding would stop libraries becoming truly civic.
The passage says Carnegie insisted communities pay running costs because "a library supported only by its donor would not become genuinely civic".
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