User:KarenLibrary/Reading in Queensland

Historically, reading was a public practice often to announce or declare information. Words were written in metre as it was expected that material would be read aloud. According to Paul Saenger, it was not until the 7th century that word separation appeared in British and Irish Monastic Texts, the first sign of silent and individual reading.

Traditionally the book was a rare object held in reverence and for many families the Bible was the only book they knew. Reading aloud was a common practice. Private reading provided an instrument of study in universities as well as for private communication with the Divine. Private reading became a Bourgeois practice by late 18th century in Western Europe and became associated with women readers of the leisured classes. Classic painters such as Manet and Whistler painted the solitary female reader absorbed in the book. At the end of the 19th century Australian women’s reading was often represented as an intrusion into housewifely duties and strong prejudices acted as a deterrent to reading during daylight hours.

In modern times, silent reading is a prerequisite for critical individual of a liberal democratic western society.

In 1896, the first Brisbane Public Library was established in William Street with the collection purchased from the private collection of Mr Justice Harding. In 1902, the renamed Public Library of Queensland was opened to the public and 700 people were reported as visiting the library on the first open day. In 1907, the library had electricity installed. John Oxley Library of Queensland History was established in 1924 with left over moneys raised to erect a statue of John Oxley and the library was opened in 1934 as the centre for research and study relating to Queensland. In 1947, the Country Extension Service was created to provide library services to people living outside Brisbane. In 1971, the Public Library of Queensland was officially renamed the State Library of Queensland.