Library, translated from Greek – “biblio” – book, “teka” – repository, that is, “repository of books.” The role of libraries in people’s lives can be judged already by the figurative names that have long been assigned to them. They were called temples of wisdom, the memory of mankind, repositories of the treasures of civilization. The library is an ordinary and at the same time amazing place, because books live in this room. We are accustomed to the book, we rarely think of it as a miracle, as a treasure, and it happens that we do not always appreciate and cherish it. But think about it, because the book until recently was the only means of transferring knowledge from generation to generation. Once humans invented writing, it became possible to collect and accumulate knowledge. The entire history of the human mind is associated with books and libraries. This is not a calm story at all! They fought for books, they were burned, lost, found, dug up in the ruins of cities buried by time, saved from enemy invasion as the most precious thing. Today’s library seems to be the epitome of peace, tranquility and order.

As at all times, she serves people. It is interesting that already the first libraries were not just a room where books were stored: they were real libraries in the full sense of the word. There were special tablets on which the first lines of works stored in the library were recorded, which helped to conveniently group and then find the required literary source. The very first libraries appeared in Ancient Egypt. They were called “houses of papyrus” and “houses of life.” They were created at palaces and temples. The Egyptian pharaohs attached great importance to education. During excavations above the entrance to one of the premises of the palace of Ramses II, archaeologists found the inscription: “Pharmacy for the soul.” According to the ancient Egyptians, books can be compared to a medicine that makes a person’s mind strong, ennobles his soul. In the 19th century, archaeologists excavated the capital of the Assyrian kings, Nineveh, on the banks of the Tigris River and found there a cuneiform library established by King Ashurbanipal. It was called the “House of Instruction and Advice” and was a huge collection of clay tablets, which, at the direction of the king, were taken from the temples and from the houses of the noble and educated Assyrians.