Article: “Do Not Read: Restricted Collections in Remarkable Libraries”

From Lapham’s Quarterly:

In the nineteenth century some librarians became preoccupied with the morality or lack thereof displayed in some of their texts. Consequently a number of libraries created special shelf marks or locations for restricted books to ensure that only readers with a proper academic purpose might access them. Below is a summary of some of the methods used to categorize restricted titles in libraries.

Items found in the following libraries are discussed:

• The British Library
• The Vatican Library
• Bibliothèque Nationale de France
• New York Public Library
• Bodleian Library
• Widener Library

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Filed under: Libraries, News, Public Libraries