LOS ANTECEDENTES DE LA PROFESIONALIZACIÓN BIBLIOTECARIA DE THE PUBLIC LIBRARIES ACT DE 1850

This article analyzes the background to the first public libraries law, The Public Libraries Act of 1850. The Act was the first legislative step in the creation of an enduring national institution that provided universal free access to information and literature. This law was a statutory basis for making reading public services accessible to a wider variety of users as a result of the demands of the Industrial Revolution. The main objective of this article is to explore a historical perspective on the evolution of libraries in the centuries leading up to the approval of this law, in order to understand the increasing relevance libraries gained over the centuries. The framers of the Act envisioned public libraries primarily as an agency for betterment of the working class. A series of other social elements—the spread of schooling, increased leisure and domestic comfort across large parts of the population—is offered as a contribution to this line of argument. Therefore, this Act was indicative of the political, moral, social and educative concerns of the time, the 19th century during the Victorian Age.