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At what age did Melvil Dewey first come up with the Dewey Decimal System to organize books in a library?

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library

American  

[lahy-brer-ee, -bruh-ree, -bree] / ˈlaɪˌbrɛr i, -brə ri, -bri /

noun

• libraries
  plural

1. a place set apart to contain books, periodicals, and other material for reading, viewing, listening, study, or reference, as a room, set of rooms, or building where books may be read or borrowed.

2. a public body organizing and maintaining such an establishment.

3. a collection of manuscripts, publications, and other materials for reading, viewing, listening, study, or reference.

4. a collection of any materials for study and enjoyment, as films, musical recordings, or maps.

5. a commercial establishment lending books for a fixed charge; a lending library.

6. a series of books of similar character or alike in size, binding, etc., issued by a single publishing house.

7. Biology. a collection of standard materials or formulations by which specimens are identified.

8. canon.

9. Computers. a collection of software or data usually reflecting a specific theme or application.

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library British  

/ ˈlaɪbrərɪ /

noun

1. a room or set of rooms where books and other literary materials are kept

2. a collection of literary materials, films, CDs, children's toys, etc, kept for borrowing or reference

3. the building or institution that houses such a collection

   a public library

4. a set of books published as a series, often in a similar format

5. computing a collection of standard programs and subroutines for immediate use, usually stored on disk or some other storage device

6. a collection of specific items for reference or checking against

   a library of genetic material

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Pronunciation

Library, with one r -sound following close upon another, is particularly vulnerable to the process of dissimilation—the tendency for neighboring like sounds to become unlike, or for one of them to disappear altogether. The pronunciation , therefore, while still the most common, is frequently reduced by educated speakers, both in the U.S. and in England, to the dissimilated or . A third dissimilated form is more likely to be heard from less educated or very young speakers, and is often criticized. See colonel, February, governor.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interlibrary
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• libraries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of library

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English libraire, from Middle French librairie, from Medieval Latin librāria, noun use of feminine of Latin librārius (adjective) “of books,” from libr-, stem of liber “book” + -ārius -ary

Explanation

A library is a place where collections of books are kept. If you ever want a reminder of how very much there is to learn in this world, pay a visit to your local library. The noun library, meaning, “a room or building where books are housed,” comes from the Latin librarium “chest for books.” That, in turn, evolved from the Latin liber, a word meaning “book, paper, parchment,” and, more literally, “the inner bark of trees.” The writer Jorge Luis Borges said, “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” What would your vision of paradise look like?

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

library libraries

He was selected to oversee what remained of the Morale Branch’s library program, which had grown largely stagnant since the mid-1920s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

Sally Phillips, actor and narrator of the newly reissued Winnie-the-Pooh audiobooks, launched the campaign earlier by reading to schoolchildren at a phone box library in Chartham, Kent.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

The steps required for that process have not yet been detailed, but the company says these members will have until Dec. 21 to access their Marvel Unlimited library to ensure the transfer was successful.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

The teacher took him to the library, where El-Sayed encountered writers like W.E.B.

From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2026

Carville has its own post office, school, bank, store, library, and golf course.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Some of the decommissioned boxes are repurposed as mini libraries or coffee kiosks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Nominations have been opened to phone boxes which have already been adapted into community libraries, with libraries in Derbyshire, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire and the West Midlands having already signed up.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

They had extraordinary libraries, unmatched journal collections, specialized archives, distinguished faculty and research assistance unavailable almost anywhere else.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

I’m really concerned about attempts to limit intellectual freedom in the U.S., especially when it comes to libraries and schools.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

The two of them were nearly as bad as all those book burners and banners Andrew used to hate back when he loved libraries.

From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein