circulating library

noun

1. a library whose books can be borrowed by its members or subscribers.

2. lending library.

circulating library

noun

1. another name (esp US) for lending library

2. a small library circulated in turn to a group of schools or other institutions

3. a rare name for subscription library

Word History and Origins

Origin of circulating library¹

First recorded in 1735–45

Example Sentences

Among its innovations, the store established a circulating library for travelers wintering in Pasadena’s grand resort hotels, who often preferred to rent a book rather than lug it home.

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Lee’s essay reminds me of my time renting books from a circulating library in Mahim, a Mumbai suburb, in the 1960s.

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In the past, books were more often borrowed than bought, even among middle-class Victorians, who would pay to join for-profit circulating libraries so that they could rent books and get rid of them after reading.

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The stacks, which were to have been demolished to make way for the Foster-designed circulating library, have been mostly empty since 2013, to the dismay of some scholars and preservationists.

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Mid-Manhattan has 1.4 million visitors a year, half of whom come from outside Manhattan, Mr. Marx said, making it “the city’s central circulating library.”

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