American Sunday-School Libraries in the 19th century

Liu Wen＊

Abstract: American Sunday-school libraries in the 19th century, as an activity of Protestant Christian missions, provided Christian and moral education for children. They were established in the early 19th century and became the main channel for the dissemination of religious literature and children's books in the United States around 1850. After 1880, they gradually declined. As an important library type before the rise of public libraries, their aims, functions and contributions need to be investigated carefully in order to promote the research of American library history and comparative librarianship. In Sunday-school libraries for children, most of the books changed from Christian literature to secular works. The classifications and catalogs were inconsistent because they were newly developed, there were strict regulations on reader's services, and most Sunday-school libraries adopted a close-stack approach. They were the first to provide free access to children and acted as the forerunner of children's libraries. They helped children form the habit of reading and advanced education in the US. They broke free from the barriers of class, race and gender, and promoted the ideas of democracy, equality and inclusiveness through the library services. They were widespread in the US and laid the foundation for US rural libraries.

Keywords: Sunday-school library, juvenile library, public library, American library history

1. Introduction

The Sunday-school libraries, also known as Sabbath-school libraries, were a type of cultural institution that provided reading materials for teenagers on Sundays and were established by Christian denominations in general. According to Friedel J. A., a U.S. library science scholar, Sunday-school libraries gathered not only novels for young people but also various descriptive materials such as models, maps, paintings, etc., which made the study of the Bible and other subjects particularly interesting. In addition, the libraries also gathered church literature and other books related to religion (Friedel, 1929, pp. 142-143). Originating in the second half of the 18th century in the UK, such libraries were introduced into the U.S. in the early 19th century. However, it is generally believed that the parish library founded by Thomas Bray(1658-1730) in Maryland in the 18th century was also a predecessor of the Sunday-school libraries. Notable differences between parish libraries and Sunday-school libraries are that the parish libraries were mainly open for clergies and for the general public at the same time, whereas the latter were mainly for Sunday-school students and the residents in the vicinity. The books in the parish libraries were directly imported from the UK, whereas those in the Sunday-school libraries were mainly from religious publishers in the U.S. Parish libraries adopted the model of libraries in the UK whereas the model of Sunday-school libraries was largely of local features of the U.S. Although both parish libraries and Sunday-school libraries were cultural institutions established by Christian denominations for preaching, and also were part of church libraries,①Church library: in the broad sense, a church library refers to the library established by Christian denominations, including seminaries and institutions, such as libraries established by young men’s Christian associations and young women’s Christian associations, parish libraries, Sunday-school libraries and the libraries founded by churches. In the narrow sense, a church library refers only to the library affiliated to churches, and open only to religious staff.the movement of parish libraries mainly happened in the 18th century in Eastern U.S. , with limited book collections and influence, whereas that of Sunday-school libraries took place in the 19th century, with larger book collections and wider influence. Although Sunday-school libraries were established to support Christian education, they also served as the major institution that provided children with reading materials in the 19th century. To some extent, they can be regarded as the predecessor of the juvenile libraries②Juvenile library: the “juvenile library” in this paper refers to the juvenile library in the broad sense, which includes independent juvenile libraries, the branches of public libraries for children, children’s reading rooms and service sectors, and the libraries in primary schools and middle schools.in the U.S. and were related to the development of public libraries. As William J. Rhees (1859, p. 578), chief clerk of the Smithsonian Institution put it, “No account of the public libraries of the United States would be complete without a notice of those of the Sunday-schools, which are found in every part of the country.” (The “public libraries” here refer to various kinds of libraries that are not private properties. Obviously, Rhees applied the definition of public libraries from Charles Jewett, which covered a broader range compared with the modern definition of “public library.”) In the 19th century, as a type of semi-public library (or quasi-public library),③Semi-public library, which is also known as quasi-public library, is managed, sponsored and supported by national or regional local governments, and provides free access to the public. Such libraries are sponsored by public finance, operated and managed by the public (and its deputies), and open to all people in the region. Therefore, based on the abovementioned factors, before 1850, real public libraries were rare in the US. But many US libraries at the early stage were of the essence of being “public.” For example, they were managed by committees, provided limited access to the public, and operated with public funds to a certain degree. Thus such libraries are called as semi-public libraries or quasi-public libraries. Sunday-school libraries were founded and managed by Christian denominations, funded by churches and the public, and provided free access to the public. Therefore, a Sunday-school library was also a type of quasi-public library.Sunday-school libraries, together with membership libraries, circulating libraries and school district libraries, opened to the public, making reading accessible to all. Therefore, a large-scale movement of library popularization at the community level was launched. However, in the academia in China, there are only a few studies on the libraries in the U.S. before the Public Library Movement, apart from the studies on school district libraries, parish libraries and membership libraries. In fact, Sunday-school libraries are not of the same significance as membership libraries and circulating libraries, but the distinctive features of Sundayschool libraries deserve our attention. This paper will present the formation and evolvement of Sunday-school libraries, examine the role of Sunday-school libraries in library development in the U.S. , and promote the study on the history of librarianship of the U.S. and on comparative librarianship, based on first-hand records, including the remaining catalogs of some Sunday-school libraries, the annual reports released by Sunday school associations, and meeting minutes, as well as the studies of later generations.

2. Literature review

Not long after the founding of Sunday-school libraries, scholars started to pay attention to this area, and kept producing fruitful results through their studies. In 1838, the American Sunday-school Union (ASSU)①American Sunday-School Union (ASSU): ASSU has its roots in the First Day Society in Philadelphia (founded in 1791) and was officially formed in 1817 as the “Sunday and Adult School Union.” In 1824, the organization changed its name to “American Sunday School Union.” ASSU was responsible for establishing and expanding Sunday schools, publishing Christian books for children, collecting data on the development of Sunday schools in different regions, and promoting the connections between Sunday schools. Later, as the functions of ASSU further expanded, it was also responsible for building churches, organizing camping for Christians, etc. In 1974, the ASSU was renamed as “American Missionary Fellowship,” and in 2011, it was given the new name “Intrust,” with the functions further increased. Despite all these changes, its mission of evangelical work in less developed regions has remained unchanged.released a 24-page booklet - Considering of the Uses and Abuses of Sunday-School Libraries, which provides precious information on the early-stage Sunday-school libraries. It gave an account of the origin and development of Sunday-school libraries and suggested keeping the size of collection under control and to promptly removing books that were of little help to preaching and were not suitable for students. In 1879, Ms. Brooks from the Unitarian Ladies’ Commission on Sunday-school Books, made her speech “Sunday-School Libraries” at the second American Library Association (ALA) conference in Boston. In her speech, Ms. Brooks pointed out that the number of Sunday-school libraries was as large as that of churches, and such libraries were the only source of books in many regions. Therefore, for many parents, the books with embossing seals from Sunday-school libraries were viewed as good for children. In addition, she also introduced the reasons why the Unitarian Ladies’ Commission on Sunday-school Books was established, the achievements the Commission had made, and the Commission’s principles for choosing books. In 1882, Samuel Swett Green provided suggestions for Sunday-school libraries on selecting books and gave other recommendations. He pointed out that, “Every child should be aided to get books suited to their age, their immediate interests, and their needs” (Green, 1882). He also introduced the approaches of Worcester Public Library, where he was working for selecting books for children. This article demonstrates that book selection for Sunday-school libraries was a hot topic in academia at that time. In 1883, A. E. Dunning (1883), Secretary of a Sunday school, wrote a book The Sunday-School Library, with the aim specified in the preface, “Many and various inquiries concerning Sunday-school libraries, from all parts of the country, have been constantly coming to me, during the past two years…This book is an attempt to answer those questions.” This book gave a detailed account of the history of the development of Sunday-school libraries, the main points in selecting books, reading guidance and reader services. It is a milestone in this area and has been cited by a great number of researchers since its publication. In 1892, in his book Sunday-School and Village Libraries, Thomas Greenwood delineated the contribution made by Sunday schools in promoting the development of libraries in rural areas and tried to examine the role of Sunday-school libraries in the context of cultural development, which was of a wider horizon. At the end of the 19th century, as the Public Library Movement was at its peak, people started to focus on the relations between Sunday-school libraries and public libraries. In 1898, Bernard C. Steiner, Director of Enoch Pratt Free Library pointed out that Sunday-school libraries were no longer so popular as they used to be, because in towns and cities, Sunday-school libraries were largely replaced by public libraries. People should try to find the right place for the Sunday-school libraries (Steiner, 1898). In 1902, in The Sunday-School Library, which was an excellent thesis, E. A. Maxwell (1902) pointed out that Sunday-school libraries should be transformed into libraries supporting the study of the Bible when faced with the fierce competition brought by public libraries. The catalog of recommended books for Sunday-school libraries in the appendix was of great significance. In 1903, in this book Strengthening the Sunday-School Library: Hints from a Practical Librarian, E. L. Foote (1903), former Director of New York Public Library, gave a detailed account of the management of Sunday-school libraries covering the selection and removal of books, organization of book collections, and provided a catalog of recommended books for children. In addition, he underlined the training of librarians for Sunday-school libraries, being the first to specify this topic. After around 50 years of silence, people tried to explicate and identify the social influence and historical significance of Sunday-school libraries at a deeper level, in which the papers of Walter and Briggs are worth mentioning. Walter introduced the origin, development, categorization and borrowing conditions of Sunday-school libraries. He believed that though being “inefficient by modern standards, they helped develop support for later, better managed libraries” (Walter, 1942). Briggs introduced the reasons for the founding of Sunday-school libraries, standards for selecting books, book circulation, and catalogs of books. He believed that poor management and random selection of books led to the decline of Sunday-school libraries(Briggs, 1961). In 1951, in his dissertation The Origin and Development of the Sunday-School Library in America from the University of Chicago, M B. Fedder (1951) gave a comprehensive account of the Sunday-school libraries in the U.S. , covering the birth, development and decline of Sunday-school libraries, and pointed out the relationships between Sunday-school libraries and public libraries. In 2001, Japanese scholar Takako Akaboshi (2001) pointed out that Sunday-school libraries acted as the foundation for children’s libraries in the U.S. and the practice of recommended books. Takako believed that Sunday-school libraries should be regarded as the pioneer of the children’s libraries in the U.S. for they promoted the publication of children’s books and helped children form the habit of reading even though they had been criticized for the poor quality of their books. Takako’s original insights have promoted studies to go deeper. The literature described Sunday-school libraries from a broad perspective, whereas in his study in 2012, Jeffrey (2012) focused on the Butler County Sunday-school Library in Kentucky as an example of community-level Sunday-school libraries. Although the Butler County Sunday-school Library was open for only a short period, it insisted on free access in a remote area, which is unique in the library history of the U.S. (Jeffrey, 2012) His insights can support the study on the law of the development of Sunday-school libraries. Among Chinese scholars, Chen Jinxian (1948) mentioned the purpose for establishing Sunday-school libraries, recruitment of librarians, and categorization of books, etc., in his book The Organization and Administration of Church Libraries in China. Since the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, the librarianship of China tended to learn from the practices in the former Soviet Union, and little attention has been paid to the library history of the U.S. Therefore, no more literature on U.S. Sunday-school libraries has been produced in China. In recent years, as we are faced with globalization and changes in the world landscape, there is a renewed interest in Sunday-school libraries. Zhang Li (2011) and Zhu Xun (2012) have made structural introductions to Sunday-school libraries in which they recognized the historical role of the libraries in providing “access to libraries and related services for children and teenagers at an early stage.” The literature is short, and is mainly composed of introductory contents.

Early-stage studies tend to give an account of facts and discuss the services of the libraries whereas the studies in later stages focus on the overview of Sunday-school libraries and summarize the significance of the libraries. Based on the existing studies, this paper will try to develop theories, focus on the close relationships between Sunday-school libraries and U.S. elementary education, children’s libraries and public libraries, and rural libraries in the U.S. to enhance the understanding of the early-stage librarianship of the U.S. in the industry.

3. Development process of the Sunday-school library

The 19th century witnessed the thriving of Christianity in the U.S. during which various kinds of cultural institutions were established for evangelical work and expanding the group of Christians. In this process, Sunday-school libraries played a significant role. Sunday-school libraries were first established at the beginning of the 19th century, dating back to the Sunday school movement in the U.S. Around 1850, Sunday-school libraries became the major source of religious literature and children’s books. The thriving and development of Sunday-school libraries lasted until 1880, after which the popularity of the libraries declined and many of them were discontinued. Since the beginning of the 20th century, as public libraries and children’s libraries became popular, Sunday-school libraries gradually disappeared from people’s daily lives.

3.1 Sunday school movement in the U.S.

A Sunday school is a kind of charitable educational institution founded by Christian denominations and the upper class, which provides free education to underprivileged children. It opens only on Sundays (Sabbath), hence the name, Sunday school. Sunday schools have been more than a type of cultural and educational institution - they have worked as an important approach to preaching as well. In 1780, Robert Raikes(1753 - 1811), a newspaper publisher, set up the first Sunday school in Gloucester, England, to provide free education of basic Christian knowledge, including reading, writing, mathematics and catechism, for underprivileged children, so as to cultivate their tastes and reduce crimes. Sunday schools soon became popular nationwide because they provided basic knowledge for children and met the demands for social transformation during the First Industrial Revolution in Britain. Therefore, there was a sweeping trend of setting up schools with private strength. With the establishment of Sunday schools, the underclass in Britain started to receive a formal education. Sunday schools were also the first choice for the children of the working class for basic education. “The immigrants from Europe, especially those from Britain, brought the lights from the old world to the new” (He, 1994). The “New World” and the “Old World” were closely connected. America had similar social and cultural backgrounds with Britain and therefore the Sunday school movement was soon vigorously carried out in North America. Compared with the movement in Britain, the movement in the U.S. showed a larger influence. In 1832, there were 8,268 Sunday schools in the U.S. The number reached 69,509 in 1857, including 7,660 in the State of New York alone (Akaboshi, 2001). Anne Boylan highly recognized the role of Sunday schools, believing that “As the agencies of cultural transmission, the Sunday schools almost rivaled in importance of the nineteenth-century public school” (Qu , 2004). Sunday schools have made an unparalleled achievement, in terms of the number of schools, the number of enrolled students, and the scope of influence. Therefore, historians named the thriving of Sunday schools as a movement: the Sunday school movement.

To support the Sunday school movement, Christian publishers, represented by the American Sundayschool Union (ASSU), published a great number of books for reading and spelling, pictures of the Bible, Christian books and books for ethical education. All these books were sent out to Sunday schools for free or sold at very low prices, as rewards or textbooks. The Christian publishers contributed significantly to the Sunday-school libraries and the publication of children’s books.

3.2 Birth and development of the Sunday-school library

Sunday-school libraries appeared at around the beginning of the 19th century, in a gradual process. It is widely believed in academia that the foundation of a Sunday-school library in Philadelphia in 1825 marks the beginning of the era of Sunday-school libraries, represented by F Allen Briggs (1961), E.W.Stone (1977) and many other scholars. However, after careful examination of the views of different schools, this paper believes that the first appearance of Sunday-school libraries should be in 1812, when Mr. Charles Walley sent 54 books to Ms. Adams, who established a Sunday-school library in Boston. This view is mainly supported by A. E. Dunning (1883) and M. B. Fedder (1951). It should be noted that setting up Sunday-school libraries based on a donation is not a common practice, according to historical records. Most Sunday-school libraries were established, thanks to the long-lasting book reward system. At the early stage, the children from lower class families who performed well could receive tickets as rewards from Sunday schools. When getting a certain number of tickets, children would exchange them for a religious book, from the publishing house of the Sunday schools. Children could bring the book back home and read to their parents. This approach helped spread the Christian doctrines and enhanced the role of Christianity among the pious lower-class believers. But at the same time, this approach also caused the loss of books and an increase in expense. In addition, Sunday schools believed that more reading practices would be needed to enhance learning and to create better learning results. Therefore, Sunday schools started to set up small libraries. The establishment of a Sundayschool library in the southern parish of Portsmouth, New Hampshire was fully recorded, which is a typical example. The practice of rewarding books started during the foundation of the Sunday school in 1818. At the end of each semester (26 weeks), students who had attended 20 times could receive a prayer book or a religious story book, and two larger religious books were given to “each class of scholars who had excelled either in recitation or behavior.” In 1827, the school abolished the reward system and instituted a library (Briggs, 1961). The Reverend John Todd set forth the reasons for the existence of a library, “It will create a taste for good reading,” “occupies the vacant hours of the children,” “will attach Scholars to the School,” and “is a powerful means of convicting the soul, and building it in holiness” (Briggs, 1961). Obviously, at this early stage, Sundayschool libraries mainly served for Christianity, because both in terms of the types of books and the service targets, they focused on the “evangelical work” for children. They preached Christian tenets and doctrines, attracted believers, helped children form good habits, improved the taste of children, and converted children and children’s parents. Given all these benefits, we can understand why Sunday-school libraries thrived in the U.S. in the 19th century.

The pace and scale of the development of Sunday-school libraries varied in the Northeast, the Midwest and the South of the U.S. New England, home for the librarianship of the U.S. , witnessed sound development of Sunday-school libraries. It includes the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, which boasted a great number of libraries and books, as shown in Table 1 below. Therefore, the influence from New England on the U.S. librarianship should be viewed objectively, which is of great significance in the study of the history of librarianship. The development of Sunday-school libraries in the Midwest was not so good as that in the East and South (including Louisiana, Florida etc.), so the number of Sunday-school libraries and books was small in the Midwest. From 1830, ASSU started to focus on the whole nation and especially the Mississippi Valley. In the middle of the 19th century, the associations of Sunday schools, represented by ASSU, set up a library for each Sunday school in the Mississippi Valley. This movement is undoubtedly the largest before the public library movement. Although some Sunday-school libraries in many regions shut down after a short period, due to insufficient budgets, the libraries provided the public with suitable reading materials, enabled them to read and write, gave ethical education and supported evangelical work. The movement of Sunday-school libraries developed rapidly, which was demonstrated by the phenomenon that every church was soon lined with bookshelves, filled with books to lend to students. In 1843, the annual report of the Sunday School Union of the Methodist Episcopal Church declared that “no more powerful auxiliary to our enterprise exists than a good library” (Briggs, 1961). The dominance of eastern states was challenged, as staggering increases took place in other regions, as shown in Table 1 below. Take Ohio for example. There were 248 Sunday-school libraries in 1850, 560 in 1860, soaring to 4,896 in 1870. Dwight L. Moody and Ira Sankey①Both Dwight L. Moody (1837 - 1899) and Ira Sankey (1840 - 1908) were famous leaders in the evangelistic cause in the US. They joined hands to publish collections of poems, sang hymns, and held evangelistic campaigns. People always said, “Sankey singing and Moody preaching.” After the American Civil War they had been to many cities in the US and the UK, sparking people’s enthusiasm for Christianity.launched the Great Revival from 1857 to 1859. During the Civil War, which is after the 1860s, Sunday-school libraries entered its golden era. With the enthusiasm for Christianity in the whole nation, new works kept coming out from Christian publishers and non-religious publishing houses also issued an amount of Christian literature which promoted the development of Sunday-school libraries. In 1850, according to Statistical View of the United States: Embracing Its Territory, Population; White, Free Colored and Slave; Moral and Social Condition, Industry, Property and Revenue, whose editor-in-chief was De Bow, there were 1,988 Sunday-school libraries in the U.S. , accounting for 13% of the total - in 1850, there were 15,615 libraries in the U.S. , including public libraries, school district libraries, libraries in universities and churches, and Sundayschool libraries (De Bow, 1854). It is the first literature that officially pointed out the number of Sunday-school libraries in the U.S. In his book Manual of Public Libraries, Institutions, and Societies, in the United States and British Provinces of North America, which was based on the ideas of Charles Jewett, William J. Rhees estimated that in 1859, there were 30,000 Sunday-school libraries in the U.S. , accounting for more than a half of the total number of various libraries (which was 50,890) in the U.S. (Rhees, 1859). In the Public Libraries in the United States of America: Their History, Condition, and Management. Special report formulated in 1876, we can see the popularity of Sunday-school libraries at that time: “It will be seen that parish and Sunday school libraries have not been included; indeed, no systematic effort was made to gather the statistics of such libraries, which are almost as numerous as the churches in the country.” According to M.B.Fedder, in the U.S. , there were 1,988 Sunday-school libraries in 1850, 6,205 in 1860, and 33,580 in 1870, as shown in Table 1 below. Guided by ASSU, Sunday-school libraries were thriving. To promote the development of Sunday-school libraries the Sunday-school Library Association was established in New York in 1886, aiming to regularly issue a list of recommended books, collect data, improve management methods, establish the rules for recording, and create magazines regarding the operation of Sunday schools. At the founding assembly, 30 members agreed to found the National Association of Sunday-school Librarians (1886), to communicate and exchange ideas with each other. In 1892, The Sunday-School Library Bulletin, the magazine of the National Association of Sunday-school Librarians, was founded. It covered book recommendations, donation appeals, library activities, experience sharing and service discussions, which was of great value because book recommendations accounted for more than a half of each issue of the magazine. Based on the aforementioned information, we can conclude that the development of Sunday-school libraries reached its peak in the late 19th century.

Table 1: The number of Sunday-School Libraries and the Number of Books in Sunday-School Libraries in Different States of the U.S. in 1850, 1860, and 1870

3.3 Decline of the Sunday-school library

As a form of “library” during the early stage of librarianship in the U.S. , Sunday-school libraries once thrived as the U.S. made progress in economic and social development. Since 1880, however, in the fierce competition with public libraries, membership libraries, private libraries and university libraries, Sundayschool libraries gradually lost their competitiveness and the number of Sunday-school libraries decreased sharply. In July 1898, the American Library Association (ALA) discussed the situation of Sunday-school libraries at a conference held in Chautauqua, New York. Arthur Bostwick, chief of the New York Public Library, mentioned, “The New York Free Circulating Library furnishes books to a number of Sunday schools, and in two cases churches situated near branches have closed their Sunday-school libraries and use our branches instead.” C. A. Cutter said, “In Pittsfield the Sunday schools have given up their libraries to the public library, with the liberty of rejection, and hereafter are going to appropriate the same sum as hitherto, but pay it over to the public library, which will purchase the books selected by the Sunday-school authorities in conjunction with the librarian.” Elizabeth L. Foote pointed out, “One of the last things I expected was to have the Sunday-school library come up in a large libraries section” (1898). In general, people believed that Sunday-school libraries should serve as branches of public libraries and assist Sunday schools in teaching and that public libraries should take over the responsibilities for book selection, management and operation. This practice proved to be successful and around 1902 the Milwaukee Public Library and the St. Louis Public Library were delivering books for Sunday schools in the two cities (Dunning, 1883). Despite every effort from the founders of Sunday-school libraries, government-funded public libraries appeared to be more competitive, and became the major resort of the public to get books for recreation and for knowledge.

In 1890, the Public Library of Brookline, Massachusetts opened the first children’s reading room on the basement floor. In 1893, a public library in Minnesota set up a children’s reading room. In 1895, the Boston Public Library moved to its new site and set up a children’s reading room (Fenwick, 1976). Power, the first professional librarian for a children’s library in the U.S. , pointed out that during the 1890’s and 1900’s, the wave of opening reading rooms for children swept through the U.S. (Fedder, 1951). According to a local report from Pittsburg, in 1900, after the foundation of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Sunday-school libraries gradually lost attraction and most churches shut down their Sunday-school libraries (Fedder, 1951). When the children’s reading room became popular, children’s needs for highquality books, sufficient and reliable sources of funds, as well as well-trained librarians could be better met. Therefore, Sunday-school libraries, which were born and thrived during the period before public libraries, gradually disappeared from daily life.

4. Operation and management of Sunday-school libraries

The focus of the libraries varied in different social environments and during their development over more than 100 years. But one thing is certain: Sunday-school libraries played a significant role in the modern librarianship of the U.S. , in terms of book collections, categorizations and reader services. In book collections the libraries experienced a transition of focus, from religious literature to popular children’s books. In book categorizations the measures were simple at the early stage and later gradually became standardized. In reader services the libraries adopted the approach of closed stacks and followed strict regulations. Although these approaches may appear to be immature by modern standards they demonstrate the evolutionary process of the librarianship of the U.S. from being simple and rough to sophisticated and professional. By studying the development of the Sunday-school libraries we can track the modernization of the librarianship of the U.S.

4.1 Transition of book collection focus: from religious literature to popular children's books

The main objective of Sunday schools was to covert people, which can be told from the guidelines for book selection. Sunday-school libraries adhered to the following principles in book selection: support the school to achieve its goals; must be adapted to the school and to the times; books shall be records of holy and religious stories and shall not include exaggerated, uncultured or rude contents; must be diversified and can meet the needs of different age groups and children with different interests (Dunning, 1883). Same as the practice in the UK, at the early stage, the books of Sunday-school libraries were mainly the publications from Christian denominations, books from the ASSU, or the books and journals published by the Association of U.S. Religious Handbooks, including the Bible, theology books, biographies of disciples and martyrs, etc. All these books were strongly ethical and emphasized abstinence and love for God. Just as F.K.Walter (1942) put it, “Books with strong moral tone were prepared to meet these readers’ desires. These became the nucleus of the Sunday school library.” The Christian books for children were the first children’s reading in the colonies in North America, which laid the foundation for popular children’s books of higher quality. However, after the American Civil War, the influence from traditional religious values and Sabbath celebrations waned, which also changed the lives of the children in the U.S. Children were no longer restricted by traditional Christian doctrines and behavior models and they started to embrace different types of literature. In addition, the types of books in Sunday-school libraries were also changed due to the competition with circulating libraries, membership libraries and school district libraries. More interesting books, such as realistic novels, historical books, biographies and travel notes became available to meet different needs from the public for reading. Even Christian books became more interesting by adding illustrations and examples. The proportion of religious and ethical books kept declining while that of popular children’s books went up and gradually exceeded 50%. At that time, Sunday schools were increasingly close to the general public, which can be confirmed by the descriptions from people of that time. Ms Hewins, a pioneer of children’s librarianship in the U.S. , recalled the secularization process of the books in Sunday-school libraries in her book A Mid-century Child and Her Books: “Not far from the slave seats in the gallery corner of the old, square, white, slender-steepled church where Theodore Parker had preached for several years in the days when some of the Brook Farm used to listen to him every Sunday, there was a bookcase which must have held two or three hundred volumes, the library for the Sunday School, which was open on Sunday mornings every year from May to November, not in winter from the difficulty of heating the church in the early mornings. There were in it, as far as I can remember, no memoirs of children who died young - indeed I never saw one until after I grew up. ... The best of all was ‘Strive and Thrive,’ the story of a widow and her children who kept a little shop in London” (Hewins, 1926). In the later period, instead of Christian doctrines, books in Sunday-school libraries were mostly secular. In addition, at the late 19th century, a great number of journals were published, and the number of journals in Sundayschool libraries was also increasing. Therefore, books in the libraries became more diversified, and the religious tone fell significantly for which Sunday-school libraries were almost the same with public libraries. This marks a significant transition for Sunday-school libraries.

4.2 Primary-level management approaches kept improving

Although Sunday-school libraries differ considerably from modern libraries, the study of their development enables us to learn about the evolution of management approaches in modern libraries. Various classification approaches were adopted by Sunday-school libraries. At the beginning, a fixed classification system based on the size of books was adopted, which required assigning a fixed number to each rack, and to put the books on racks, in the order of folio, quarto, octavo, sextodecimo, and maps. Albert Elijah Dunning suggested numbering the larger books from No. 1 to No. 100 and put them on the lower shelves; for smaller books, to put the books of the next size smaller on the second shelf from the bottom, and the first one on this shelf should be 200, and so on. In this way, books would be put at the corresponding place as numbered, and the books would be classified in proper order (Dunning, 1883). This approach was efficient for Sundayschool libraries, as the libraries did not stock a great number of books. However, as the number of books grew, and more students were enrolled, people started to classify books with more sophisticated processes, although such approaches may appear complicated from a modern perspective. According to M.B.Fedder (1951), in a Sunday school, books were classified into 45 parts, for 45 classes. Each part had 10 to 12 books for children in the corresponding class. In some Sunday-school libraries, books were roughly classified by target readers and pages of the books. For example, the first category contained books with pages of 24 to 72 and was for children under seven; the second category contained books with pages of 72 to 200 for children from 7 to 12; the third category involved books with more than 200 pages and mainly for adults (Fedder, 1951). Although the classification systems are too general and inaccurate by modern standards, they were suitable for Sundayschool libraries of smaller sizes.

Catalogs were an important source for readers to learn about the information of the books in a library. Before catalog cards were applied universally in the 20th century, Sunday-school libraries applied printed catalogs in loose-leaf form and posted the catalogs in schools. Ledger catalogs were applied later. Such a catalog issued by the Library of the First Baptist Church Sunday-school of New Britain, Connecticut was “magnificent,” and was recommended by the National Association of Sunday-school Librarians (1894). The volumes were listed in alphabetic order by the authors and the names and introduction of the books were provided. Sometimes, pages and target readers were also marked. “J” stands for the junior grade, “I” the intermediate grade, and “S” the senior grade, which was more reader friendly. After 1870 people tried to classify books based on themes in a way as F.K.Walter (1942) put it, “Technical organization of the Sunday school library developed.” Wheeler explained the classification systems of that time. For example, in a parish library in New York, books were divided into 16 categorizations, including physics, arts, politics, education, history, poetry, novel, and theology, represented by letters from A to P. In Mount Olivet Baptist Church in New York, books were categorized by the target readers: children and teenagers. For children, there were biographies, travel notes and other notes. For teenagers, there were books about humanity history, natural history, travel and notes (Fedder, 1951). In 1883, A.E.Dunning (1883) suggested Sunday schools should categorize books by the history of Christianity, biography, evangelicalism, incidents of travel, Christian story, abstinence, natural science, and humanity history. From the categorizations mentioned above, we can see that when categorizing books, Sunday-school libraries prioritized history and Christianity over reality and science, which demonstrates that the libraries focused on Christianity and theology. In 1876, the first edition of the Dewey Decimal Classification was published and the approach introduced in the work was soon adopted and promoted in libraries across the U.S. Since then, Sunday-school libraries generally started to apply the Dewey Decimal System and the system could be simplified based on their own circumstances. In general, “F” stands for fiction, “J” for children’s books, and “B” biography. As for the other categories, except for history books and travel notes, books were coded by three digits. Books numbered between 170 and 180 were all shown by 170, aiming to use fewer numbers to bring more convenience to both librarians and readers (Dunning, 1883). We can conclude that at the early stage of Sunday-school libraries there were only a few books and the categorizations and classifications were simple and rough - loose-leaf and ledger catalogs were used. In the later period, the popular Dewey Decimal System was introduced, and the operation of the libraries became more and more specialized.

4.3 Strict regulations, mostly closed stack items

The regulations of Sunday-school libraries were exacting to begin with and became relaxed in the later period. At the early stage only students who were believed to have good moral conduct or performed well in academic study could borrow books when the libraries opened. For example, in the Sunday-school library of First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh students who attended classes on time, had good moral conduct, and could recite 15 Bible verses, 20 hymns, and answer 20 catechism questions, could have access to the libraries (Fedder, 1951). But by the 1840’s, all teachers and students of Sunday schools, as well as believers of the denomination could borrow books from the libraries. Later, all believers, regardless of their denominations, were free to borrow a limited number of books from the libraries. Normally, Sunday-school libraries were open on Sunday for a few hours, as is the case for the Sunday-school libraries of First Parish, Needham, Church Street M. E., South Boston, the Brighton (Massachusetts) Evangelical Library, University Place Presbyterian Church of New York City, and Trinity Church, Geneva, New York. Libraries were supported to provide independent locations whereas in fact there was no site especially for libraries according to the construction plans of the churches at that time. Normally libraries were in a dark corner in the auditorium or lobby. At that time, open shelves were not available. Books were picked up by librarians, and children could only choose the books from sketchy printed catalogs. Therefore, children often chose books with attractive names only to find they were not interested in the contents after getting the books. In addition, books were also borrowed collectively in some remote areas, according to the meeting minutes from some Sunday schools. In 1856, in the Sunday-school library of Salem Baptist Church in Butler, Kentucky, “…it appears that the teachers made selection decisions for students” (Jeffrey, 2012). To be specific, librarians prepared the reading books for each class and tied six to eight books in a bundle. Names of teachers or classes were attached and the books would be assigned to the teachers accordingly. In the classes, each student would take one book, and exchange books with others after finishing reading. This practice could not only save the time for all the formalities of borrowing books for students, but also free libraries from the effort for keeping the borrowing records. The approach of another library was even more unique. Nearly the whole wall of the library room was covered with blackboard perforated with half inch holes, with white top pegs to fit them. Above each hole, in regular order, a number was painted distinctly in white, representing the number of a book in the library. On the head of the peg belonging to that hole was the same number. When the peg was in the hole, the book which it represented, was in; when the hole was empty, the book was out. In two or three strips across sections of the blackboard reserved for that purpose, the names were kept registered, class by class, in the order of one’s numbers; beside each name at the right, was a peg hole. As the books were selected for the class represented, number 87 for instance, was given to John Jones and book number 87 was taken from hole number 87, and transferred to the hole alongside of John Jones’ name. Thus, the librarians detect at a glance who have kept books more than the authorized two weeks. Later, the library also adopted a card system, in which they had two sets of cards, one for names of books, authors, call numbers, etc. and were put into the book pockets, and the other for student’s name, student number, class, etc. and were put into boxes. When a book was lent out, the corresponding card would be taken out from the book and put into the box, together with the card of the student. When the book was returned, the card would be taken out from the box and put back into the pocket. This is one of the simplest and easiest methods (National Association of Sunday-school Librarians, 1894) We can see that Sunday-school libraries adopted the approach of closed stack which demonstrated that the book management system had been improved.

In addition, Sunday-school libraries established a complete set of regulations on borrowers, borrowing time, punishment upon infringements, etc. As Fedder recorded, a library under the ASSU had established a set of detailed regulations: First, books should not be lent out for more than one week. If a student did not finish reading a book within one week, he/she should first return the book and borrow it again; Second, all registered students could borrow books from the library, and bring the books home for their parents or friends; Third, students should keep the books in good condition, and should not tear down pages from books, paint on books, put books under strong sunlight, nor put books at places where they were likely to be contaminated by smoke, oil or water; Fourth, any student who breached the regulations would be held accountable. Should a student tear down pages from a book, he/she would pay half of the book’s price; if a book gets lost, the borrower should make compensation as the book was priced (Fedder, 1951). However, Briggs recorded that, in most cases, students were allowed to borrow one book for two to four weeks each time. He noted that First Parish, Needham, Church Street M. E., South Boston, and the University Place Presbyterian, New York, all allowed the student to keep his selection for two weeks. Fourth Universalist, Boston, Trinity Church, Geneva, New York, the Little Falls Friends Library, the Brighton (Massachusetts) Evangelical Library, and the West Parish Association of Boston all permitted a four-week borrowing period (Briggs, 1961).

5. Assessment of Sunday-school libraries

The late 19th century witnessed the thriving of public libraries in the U.S. But before that for many people, especially those from remote areas, Sunday-school libraries were the major source of reading materials. Despite the huge difference between Sunday-school libraries and modern libraries, we can find the traces of the service concepts of modern libraries from Sunday-school libraries. As S.I.Fenwick (1976), Professor Emeritus from Graduate Library School, University of Chicago, noted “For children in many small towns and rural areas they were the greatest source of free books. In this role they served as forerunners of the movements for school and public libraries.” This paper supports the belief that Sunday-school libraries are among the many reasons that contributed to the thriving of public libraries in the U.S. Though limited, their influence should never be unnoticed. We can note their influence from the following aspects: the movement for modern libraries has gained strength from the inclusiveness of Sunday-school libraries, which have played a unique role in the U.S. library development; Sunday-school libraries made a pioneering move to lift the restrictions on age and provide free access, making them the forerunner of modern libraries for children; the libraries also helped people form the habit of reading, and promoted elementary education in the U.S. In addition, the libraries opened in basic-level communities across the U.S. , making them also the forerunner of the librarianship in rural areas. In the study of the history of early-stage librarianship in the U.S. , the role of Sunday-school libraries should not be overlooked.

5.1 Breaking free from the barrier of class, race and gender and promoting democracy, equality and inclusiveness, which have been inherited by public libraries

From the 18th to the 20th century the actions taken by middle-class white men played the most part in the librarianship of the U.S. In 1731, Benjamin Franklin founded a membership library which was the predecessor of public libraries that were sponsored by taxes and provided free access in the 19th century. But the purpose of the library was to serve the elites and intellectuals, who were normally wealthy and of high social status. In addition, M. H. Harris, Professor from the University of Kentucky and well-known scholar in the history of librarianship believed that in the early 1850’s the Boston Public Library was established with the aim of enabling the elite minority to become leaders of the nation instead of providing the masses with opportunities economically and politically. The trustee was generally a male, “past his prime,” white, Protestant, well educated, wealthy, a member of the social elite, and could not represent a wide range of races, classes, or religions (Harris, 1975). How could the people who knew little about the public’s needs interact with the public and guide them with books? Like all the other membership libraries at that time, the Boston Public Library mainly provided access for white intellectuals, whereas forbidding African-Americans, immigrants or other similar groups from entering. However, when faced with problems such as the moral degeneration that occurred during industrialization and urbanization, churches set up libraries for the public, gave out religious literature which helped address social issues, and brought out the good qualities of the public. Sunday-school libraries were set up by Christian churches and promoted free access to knowledge. To convert more people and to widely promote Christian doctrines they opened to all students regardless of their social class. The inclusiveness they showed was the most remarkable among all the libraries at that time. In 1857, the Sunday-school library of Salem Baptist Church in Butler, Kentucky stipulated that “Individuals of all ages, sects, denominations and colors were allowed ‘free access’ ” to Sunday schools and Sunday-school libraries (Jeffrey, 2012). Sundayschool libraries valued the circulation of books more than other libraries, and therefore they were “open” and “equal.” Jesse Hauk Shera believed that circulating libraries and membership libraries were the predecessors of public libraries, which was explained in his book Foundations of the Public Library: The Origins of the Public Library Movement in New England: 1629-1855. While only a few words about Sunday-school libraries were mentioned he also recognized that the influence of Sunday-school libraries had been greatly overlooked. He explained in his book that puritans play a significant role in traditional American culture. Influenced by the cultural background in the 19th century, at the early stage, public libraries could hardly break free from the influence of churches (Shera, 1965). The abovementioned essays and works demonstrate that, although there is no positive connection between Sunday-school libraries and public libraries, Sunday-school libraries contributed to establishing small community-level libraries providing free access to books and kept improving management methods of libraries which served as examples for public libraries. The appearance of public libraries has gone through a process of evolution, inheritance and development from private libraries, quasipublic libraries to public libraries. All types of quasi-libraries contributed to the birth of public libraries. I believe that there are four branches in the Public Library Movement: membership libraries, circulating libraries, school district libraries and parish libraries represented by Sunday-school libraries. The greatest contribution from membership libraries was the innovative operation model of co-establishment and reading. Circulating libraries have taken the recreational needs of reading into consideration when selecting books. School district libraries were the pioneer of the model of library foundations supported by public funds. All three types of libraries contributed to guiding and promoting U.S. librarianship. As for the parish libraries represented by Sunday-school libraries, they provided free and equal services to all, and promoted the sharing of resources, which contributed to the transition of U.S. librarianship from being exclusive and conservative to promoting openness and sharing. This breakthrough provided a major cornerstone for the development of modern librarianship. The Christian groups in the U.S. contributed significantly to transferring librarianship from a private cause to a philanthropic movement. They regarded and treated all believers as equals, as brothers and sisters. Their ideas of equality and fraternity have become the spirit of public libraries.

5.2 The first to provide free access to children of all ages, as a pioneer of the U.S. librarianship for children

The librarianship for children in the U.S. is well developed. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, the service for children from U.S. public libraries developed rapidly and became world-leading thanks to the foundational role of Sunday-school libraries to a large extent. Therefore, Sunday-school libraries should be regarded as the forerunner of the U.S. librarianship for children. Before 1850, few libraries were especially for children. According to Shera’s survey of New England from 1733 to 1850, there were only 21 children’s libraries in the U.S. , including one established before 1800 (Lopez, 1976). At that time, children could get reading materials from Sunday-school libraries, school district libraries, circulating libraries and membership libraries. “School district libraries were more like public libraries and were open to the general public to a larger extent.” When a library opened to both children and adults, it would collect books for different age groups, and therefore the operation would be more demanding (Zhang, 2011). In general, membership libraries were in towns and cities and were only accessible for people who paid for sponsorship. Ms Hewins was a pioneer in the librarianship for children in the U.S. In 1875 she started to work in the Hartford Public Library, Connecticut which had 500 - 600 members and charged three dollars for one book, and five dollars for two. Most children could not afford such fees. She noted that (at that time) five dollars was a high cost for most families. Therefore, children could only read the books in their homes or the books borrowed from Sunday-school libraries. Compared with other libraries of the same period, Sunday-school libraries did not excel or lag behind in the number of books (Sayers, 1963). At the same time, the high costs and the types of books made circulating libraries inaccessible for teenagers. Apprentices’ libraries have also been regarded as the forerunner of children’s libraries, but they were also based on membership and had strict restrictions on accessibility which was mainly opened for members and apprentices of the associations. By contrast, Sundayschool libraries provided free access and imposed fewer restrictions on borrowers’ identities which were great strengths compared with other types of libraries. F. C. Sayers put it that the Sunday School libraries, limited in scope to religious tracts and books narrowly dedicated to sectarian themes for morbidly dwelling upon sin and the need for salvation, helped to create an atmosphere of expectation, as far as the children were concerned, because they circulated books without fee. And, as noted by W. I. Fletcher (1876), by 1876 most libraries fixed a certain age limit, as 12 or 14, below which candidates for admission are ineligible. By doing so, librarians hoped to prevent disorder caused by children. At the gates of many libraries, there were signs indicating children and dogs were not allowed to enter (Thomas, 1982). It was not until 1894 that the Director of the Milwaukee Public Library proposed at an ALA conference to abolish age limitations and to provide special rooms for children (Fenwick, 1976). In the evolution of children’s libraries, Sunday-school libraries were the first to remove age restrictions and to open to all children. Therefore, compared with other types of libraries, Sunday-school libraries were the closest to modern children’s libraries. “The path from the Sunday school library to the modern children’s and school library is practically continuous.” It was due to Sunday-school libraries’ efforts in promoting the idea of free access to “library” for children that libraries’ free services for children were achieved.

5.3 Helping children form the habit of reading, and promoting primary education in the U.S.

The first Compulsory Education Law of the U.S. was adopted in 1852 and it required that children should be entitled to have access to free education and school systems should be supported by taxes. Therefore, the number of primary school students increased sharply. Despite the strong stimulus, only 8.4% of the teenagers aged 14 to 17 could continue going to school and among them only a fraction could finish study and graduate (Zhang, 2011). Therefore, at that time, many adults could not read. Many more children had no access to formal education whereas the pursuit for knowledge was instinctive for people in social transformation. Therefore, people were eager to seek primary education in other forms to bridge the gap created by insufficient formal educational opportunities. In 1830 the ASSU started to establish Sunday schools in the south of the U.S. One of the major reasons was that “the common schools provided at public expense were not sufficient for the population” (Rice, 1917). Chinese scholar He Guoqing (1994) speaks highly of Sunday schools. He believes that, “From 1800 to 1820, Sunday schools played a significant role in promoting primary education in the U.S. ” Libraries preserve human civilization and promote cultures. Although Sunday-school libraries opened only on weekends, were small in size, and existed only for a short period, they spread across the nation, were in large quantity, and provided free access which made them the most popular institute to spread knowledge among teenagers. Sunday-school libraries, to a large extent, reduced the high illiteracy rate at that time. It was in Sunday-school libraries that poor children could gather together for church services and meetings, could have access to books and purify their souls. Before public libraries became popular in many communities, especially in the regions distant from big cities, Sunday-school libraries were the only place that people could get books (Maxwell, 1902). Sunday-school libraries not only provided religious education, but also served as an important approach for children to acquire literacy. Sunday-school libraries and Sunday schools were complementary: in class students could learn how to read, and form the habit of reading under guidance, whereas libraries provided students with books, which could enhance learning outcomes. Dr. Todd believed that the library of the Sunday-school furnishes reading suited to the child’s capacity, and creates gradually in him a confidence that even he can master the contents of a book; and when this is once done, the child has acquired a taste for reading (Dunning, 1883). Sunday-school libraries partly served the function for education by providing people with reading materials, which met the demand from the public. Reading materials were inseparable from primary education, and vice versa. People were thirsty for reading and education, which promoted U.S. legislative institutions to provide free primary education and enabled public schools to gain better equipment and support than other projects in the states. The influence from reading materials from Sunday-school libraries could sometimes be overstated but it promoted politicians to allocate more funds for primary education. Sunday-school libraries provided children who had no access to compulsory education with abundant books with which they could learn on their own and this promoted education of the public to some extent. The libraries effectively complemented school education and promoted the education in the U.S. during this specific period.

5.4 Widespread in the U.S. and acting as the foundation for rural libraries

Libraries are both causes and results of their times. They flourish or decline as they meet, or fail to meet, the needs of their periods (Walter, 1942). As a type of social institute, libraries are a kind of medium in society and are influenced and restricted by social environments. From the middle of the 19th century the flourish of public libraries met the needs of literacy promotion, population agglomeration and business development. In fact, the Public Library Movement thrived in cities and towns on the initiative of the government and social elites. According to C. C. Jewett, in 1850, the State of Indiana provided, in the law laying out the State into counties, for appropriation of a piece of land in each county for the establishment of a public library. The income arising from the sale of certain reserved lots was to be used for purchasing books (Jewett, 1851). Monroe county procured a valuable library of 4,000 volumes in Bloomington (Jewett, 1851). However, normally such kind of libraries were located in populous districts, whereas few public libraries could be found in sparsely-populated rural areas. Therefore, in the 19th century, Puritans played the most significant role in the development of rural libraries. Puritans founded these Sunday-school libraries which acted as the foundation for the thriving and popularity of rural libraries. At that time, religion played a significant role in the daily lives of rural residents. Many of them never visited public libraries, but they went to churches regularly. For them, churches connected people, and provided them with comfort, solidarity and help. Elizabeth Louisa Foote noted that women, who hardly get out the house during the week, who do not go to the public libraries, but who do go to church and Sunday-school, and who depend on the Sunday-school library for their reading matter.” People could read in churches for free, and Sunday-school libraries were the only place that people could borrow books in many rural areas. The famous writer Mark Twain (1835 - 1910) was born into a poor family in Missouri. He started working while learning when he was young and was brought up on the Bible, on hymnbooks, and presumably on what he found in the Sunday school library; all of these and the sermons he heard afforded him plenty of material in later years for his realism works. Former Arthur Bostwick, former president of the ALA, once said, he felt indebted the Sunday school libraries of his early days for the knowledge of English life and history they gave him (Walter, 1942). Shera (1965) wrote that, just as churches had become landmarks of New England, Sunday-school libraries were small but ubiquitous, and had significant influence on the local culture. Sunday-school libraries represented the influence from Christianity on the regions, featuring humanitarianism and philanthropy. It should be remembered that, Sunday schools were established, with the aim to educate the poor. With the efforts and appeals from missionaries and volunteers, by 1880, almost every Sunday school in all the villages had established a library and became an important place to impart religious and secular knowledge to the public. All Sunday-school libraries would add new books every few years, and the size of the libraries showed how flourishing a Sunday school was. For people in remote towns or villages, the reading rooms opened every Sunday and the reading materials were great blessings. At that time, people did not have other reading materials, and therefore the books in Sunday-school libraries were used much more frequently than we can imagine. In 1898, J. E. Ingham suggested that Sunday schools established by the same Christian denomination in rural areas set up a major library with joint efforts and that the books be sent to Sunday-school libraries in order to provide more books for local residents (Ingham, 1898). This demonstrates the wide influence of Sunday-school libraries in rural areas. But for the widespread and rapid development of public libraries in the 20th century, thousands of Americans could still depend on Sunday-school libraries for reading. After the thriving of public libraries, in most cases, Sunday-school libraries became a branch of the public libraries. In the 19th century, when public libraries were only founded in cities, Sunday-school libraries played a significant role in spreading knowledge and improving literacy.

6. Conclusion

As a form of early-stage libraries in the U.S. , Sunday-school libraries emerged, developed and declined, as the U.S. expanded its territory, transformed its economy, and reformed its culture and politics. In the end, Sunday-school libraries were replaced by new forms of libraries such as public libraries for children or school libraries. Nowadays, in the studies of the librarianship for children most scholars start from the five major aspects (which are the specialized space, specialized collection, professional staff, specialized service and cooperation network). Sunday-school libraries did not have well-trained professional librarians, or specialized services for children, or close cooperation with public schools but judging from their book collections and target readers, Sunday-school libraries mainly served for children and therefore should be regarded as the forerunner of the librarianship for children. However, in stark contrast to the close attention to public libraries in academia, U.S. historians in librarianship tend to overlook or belittle the role of Sunday-school librarianship. There is no denying that Sunday-school libraries carried out complicated social functions in the U.S. and were the achievements of Christian denominations and social powers. Although their contribution to public libraries should not be overestimated they made reading materials accessible in the most remote regions in the U.S. , lifted restrictions on race, age, gender and class, promoted the idea of free and equal access to libraries at people’s own will which prepared for the Public Library Movement in terms of thought and management. Therefore, they promoted the birth and development of public libraries indirectly. In addition, little attention has been paid to the relationships between Sunday-school libraries and the origin of rural libraries in the U.S. In the late 19th century the Public Library Movement mainly flourished in the cities in the U.S. whereas Sunday-school libraries were the major source of books in rural areas. Their role in basic-level librarianship in the U.S. shall by no means be negated or underestimated. To conclude, Sunday-school libraries were the predecessor of children’s libraries and rural libraries in the U.S. and promoted elementary education and the ideas of modern library services to a certain extent. Although the form of Sunday-school libraries has already vanished, the contribution the libraries made should be respected. We should view this period of U.S. librarianship impartially.