Ibraries Are Symbols of Education and Culture. the History of the Race
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• JO."ll1 PO ibraries are symbols of educatIon and culture. The history of the race vouches for the tact that saTaga tribes and barbarian natio lett no traoes of collections ot manuscripts, books and treeSU1'es of art, but "rc.ther ~ave many eVidences ot nndalism in theIr destructIon by 1'i or other efteett eans ot annihilation. n the other as tar back as 2500 years bef ore ChrIst Mesopotamia had a colleotion 01' cuneiform wrItlll.O:s, Which are still extant in the wuvre in FariS, that the syrIans had gathered a collection ot precious mannscrI~ts Which are t prized treasures ot the BritIsh eum and tl-at the Romans to valuable papyri and other symbols of learning among the EgypUana. There are also records to indicate that t he Romans, both before and under the empire , cultiTated an appreCIation ot histOrical and l1'terary reoorda Whioh gradual1y found their way int o priTate and punl1e collao tiona and te .ade aTallable in libraries, ot VllUch twenty-au: are known to have existed in Rane durlng ge ot Augustus. Among others neea proved himself Ii. great cr1t ic of book an advocate of l1terar,r 00< lections. In tact he criticized very sharpl y tl-eae Who held be 1 lr -2 possession simply f or the aake ot boaatin« about t heir treasures Without eit usi~ t hem or th ~ aTallable t o ot her s t or t he spread ot knowledge. Little is known about the attitude ot the ancient j ewa t owards the colleotion ot books but have at l east the assuranoe t hat t~e Sacred rit i lU1:8 Wh i ch constitut e the 0 l d Testament were scrupulously safeguarded and passeCl 0 generation to generation under the direct ion ot the Sanhedrin. Let i t be re.membered that in t hose tor.matiTe years ot ciT1l1zatlon and oulture, t her· quest ion of books in t he t orm in which we knovl them t oday. The art ot printing , of course, ati and, therefore J books had to be wrItten and t ranscribed by hand. so that t he books spoken ot in those early days are principally manuscripts written on parchment, ch are t Taluabl e because of the care involved preserv1~ them f or f ut ure generat i ons • is custom partially explains the restriction .ieh were put upon the use an diBtr i but10n of books practioally up to t he end ot the Middle Ages, When tbe art ot printing f inally made t he oopyin,; and reproduction ot books a poSS1bility. 1ng the early Ohristian peri od, Which was marked by oruel persecutions and t he imposition at severa restrictions, there was probably l ittle ettort t o ... 3 collect and preserve wr1tings other than those ot t .... e inspired authors t whic' constitute What 1s knowu as the New Testament and the works ot the earlt 'athera. These sacred writ1np:s were safeguarded With supreme scrupulosity i the principal Ohristian centers. ,is may have given rise to the early practice ot collecting and preserTins especially rel1ld.ouB work der the custody ot t"e churches and i n the t BiShOPS and other Christian leaders. know that tne Fathers ot t~e Church expressed their love and reverence especia~ tor re1i~ious writIngs. Jerome and St. Augustine are knoWll to have given speCial admonition to the rai t hful regarding the reverence 'that s,",ould be sho towards re ous wrlt1DV1, ortl D.1t them. to read t hem wit h zea care. Notable tor its colleotion ot books in those early Christian times 1s th library ot entl uB in R! records are st! extant. 1\ It waSt however, the rise ot ~nasta.I i n the f itth and sixth centurIes that gave t greatest impetus to the collection ot 11terary and cultural works in the torm ot libraries as we understand them today. Far t rom. belD« ettered an oly men embodied their const!tutiona the minutest regulat re5rarding the collection, preservation and use ot writ ings then aTailab~e. elfu we ot only eXhorted but even dI.rected and commanded ~ under obedi ence to take books out ot the library and read them carefully i their cells. The regulations i ncluded minut e details as to hoW t hese books, .,.,lch were i n reality manuscripts , were to rest caretully on the wide sleeTe of t readert s l eft arm, pr actically serTing as a euShiONJ the page were t o be t ed with the greatest care by the right d. Books had to be returned regularly to the 11brar;r J ere exact record or ea t alo~e preael'T8d by one ot the Monks Who act ed as custodlan and eventually became ,wn as 11brarl an. Monks were t h aeyars penalties i f they tailed to »et urn books at t proper time or it t hey gave evidence or carelessness 0 abuse l1e these books were in t helr custody and tinally t he severest penaltl and anathema re d as a t hreat ovoer t'l1ose wl!o wo .are to a11e e or destroy theBe venerable treasurea. Stmd l ar minute regulations were eventually develOp !Rated against the lending of books tsi of t he preCincts of indiVidual monaste , r e strietions ~ i ch becam.e so aeTere t hat in the t hirtee century a Dioee Syno eld i n Parts eontraryw1se, ely by promulgating seve peual ies against those o ref used to make owledge avail able by a broader policy of lend1n« books to ot hers t han the i t es of the monasteri es. -51! It is historically established that this interest and zeal tor knowledge and t he pres8nation ot books by the monastio Orders laid the toundation for thl ,eTe1oment ot education and cu1'hre in pract1cally all European countries. The pioneers in thi s illustrious fie14 ware the Sons of St. Benedict , but they had followers and tators in tbe Orders W'Ilioh gradually SPHllg up in tbe Catholic Church. The Cistercians, the Carthusians and t llgUstlD1ans and practically Ill. religiOUS Orders became the t ers of libraries in connection Wit h their monastiC 1nst1tutions, l1brari reserved tor posterity the literary treas s of the ages and gave a tremendous impulse t o the di88 tion ot humll ]mowle ana. cul ture. Especially celebrated in thiS connection are the' libraries :1300\)1 j) t that aprang up in Italy a t SubIao~A and Monte Cassino and the tamous Laurentian library in Florence; outstan·· in France were the Monasteries at Clairy-au ani Cluny, in Switzerland t he Monastery of St. Gall, in Germa.ny the Monastel"1 of Falda, in ~land the Benedietine Monasteries in Dover and Bury, to mention but a 'lew that are typical of the un!"ersal custom existi in practically all monastIc institutio ot the Middle ~es. or must we oTerlook the t~endous contribution Which the Papacy made in the promot1on of science and culture through the enoouragement ieh the Vic ot ,riat gave to the to~tion ot libraries and eventually the establishment or unl -6.. versities• .Monumental in t his regard 1s the world fliUIlous Vatican l1brarr, Whio!:!. even today holds a pre-eminence for the quality as well as the quantity ot the treasures Which the Popes have assembled ill the tom at manuscripts, books and art treasures. aI,nst t his background of antiquity and· ot t he Middle Ages we can rGad1ly understand how the deTelo~ent ot l1brarIes, private and public , progressed atter the art of printing had been invented. This made books available in quality and quantity to practica.lly' every stratum ot humansoolety. Unfortunately it a.1so presented the -danger that arises trom t'le promisouous dissemination of books, among them bOoks that contain doctrines whioh are not only heretical from the religiOUS standpoint , but also dootrines WhIch are questionable from the scientific standpoint and dootrines Which have a demoralizing intluence upon human conduot and oiTlUzatlon. Sometimes the Ohur oh 1s eriticize en it expresses caution and pronounces penalties against the publication and d1sseminat1on at Q.uestionable lt1ngs. evertheless , such restrictions and cautions are in their order no less reasonable than are t he restrictions placed upon the distributIon ot po1sons and the necessary caut10IlS issued tor t he preseT'Tat1on of h ealth in our homes and the safeguard ot human 11te on our highways , terways end skyways. Certainly the Jl.. preserTation ot the welfare and salvation ot the h oul Is no les cred an obligation than is the pres8rTation ot the healt"h and Ute ot the boa,.. thIs prompts us to emphasize the signiticanoe and the importance 0 the ceremony Wherein are today dedicating this new accession to the splendi4 ensemble ot buildings that adorns the campus ot Loyola UniT8rsi ty. sterpiece .rchiteoturaU,. and a model from. the ste:ndpoint ot practical equipment, this new la University Libra ry will stand forth i n the City ot New Orleans and in our beloved Southland as a veritable citadel of learning, -wherein there will b aoeumulated over a period of years approxtmately 300,000 Tolumes , ose content will cover the widest t1eld ot scientitic , literary and cultural lOl.owlellue . Well may we visualize that tens ot thousands of students and scholars in succeedlnc generatIons will flook here to prepare themselves for their VOcations and to build up material tor their publicat ions Which in turn will accrue to the benefit ot the ever growing number ot American oitizens in search of human knowledge.