1549.
{2b} London apparently is entitled to claim the distinction of having
established the earliest British library under municipal control. In an
article in the "Library Association Record," vol. 10, 1908, the late Mr.
E. M. Borrajo, formerly Librarian to the Corporation of the City of
London, wrote: "The citizens of London may fairly claim to be the parent,
in a sense, not only of the National Library, but of every public library
in the country." He also stated: "The earliest association of a library
with the Guildhall dates from some period anterior to the year 1425, when
it is recorded that the executors of Richard Whittington and William Bury
built the 'new house or library, with the chamber under,' the custody of
which was entrusted to them by the Corporation." About the year 1549 the
Lord Protector Somerset carried off three cart loads of books from the
Library, and the following year saw its final disappearance. This
library was a collegiate library and probably opened its doors to
non-collegiate students, who were properly accredited. In the will of
John Carpenter, proved in 1442, this library is referred to as the
"common library at Guildhall.
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