Stadsbibliotheek Haarlem 2.03

The Stadsbibliotheek Haarlem is a collective name for all public libraries in the Haarlem area of the Netherlands. The first public library of Haarlem opened in 1921 at the cloisters of the Haarlem City Hall where the academic library had been since 1821. The move to open its doors to the public with a public reading room was only possible after the previous occupant of the downstairs cloisters, the Frans Hals Museum, moved out in 1913 to its present location. As of 2009, there are 6 public libraries and 10 lending points, such as in hospitals.Historical CollectionIn 1596 the Haarlem City council decided to start a library, or librije as it was then called. This was a collection of books attached by chain to a lessenaar, an elongated lectern that held the books below on a shelf. The chain was long enough so that the reader could select a book from below to read while standing. This collection was kept in the Sint-Bavokerk, where it probably came from (all church property was seized by the city council after the iconoclasm riots of the Protestant Reformation). The books were only available to the few people in possession of a key to the church. Today this older collection of books (everything published before 1900) is kept by the stichting Oude Boekerij en Bijzondere Collecties (OBBC). This includes a complete series of the Acta Eruditorum, for example. The oldest items are religious by nature, coming from church holdings prior to 1596. The oldest item is a fragment of the Book of Psalms, or psalterium, from the 11th century. At what time the collection moved to the city hall itself is uncertain, but this probably happened after 1625, when the collection was expanded with the library of the Commanderij van St. Jan, when all of their property reverted to the state. The first printed catalog of the Haarlem library dates from 1672 and is 35 pages long. By that time the collection was managed by the teachers of the Latin school (today a High School called Stedelijk Gymnasium Haarlem, and still located next to City Hall). The access to the books was still far from public.