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Extended English abstracts of articles published in the Chinese edition of Journal of Library Science in China 2018 Vol.44 203

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
are to be investigated carefully in order to promote the research of American library history and
comparative librarianship.
Based on the first-hand historical materials such as existent Sunday-school library catalogues,
American Sunday-school union reports and their meeting records, combined with subsequent
works, the study aims at analyzing American Sunday-school libraries’ development, their operating
characteristics and their historical contributions. Conclusions are as follows. ① Sunday-school
libraries experienced the historical process of generation, expansion, prosperity and decline
in the 19th century. The symbolic event of their origin was the 54 books given to Ms. Adams
by Mr Walley, who founded Boston’s first Sunday-school in 1812. During the second half of
the 19th century, the development of Sunday-school libraries reached its peak. Their religious
overtones waned and secular tendencies strengthened by the end of the 19th century, and the
competitions from public libraries, social libraries, private collections, and school libraries made
them less attractive and declined sharply. ② They showed the gradual improvement of American
librarianship with more flexible means of borrowing, enlarging collections and increasing readers.
Their readers were made up of Sunday-school teachers and scholars, as well as brethren of the
church, which later expanded to all denominations. ③ Sunday-school library movement had
significant contributions, especially to children’s libraries and rural libraries. The Christian idea
of “All men are equal to each other as brothers and sisters” constituted the spiritual connotation
of modern public libraries. From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century,
American children’s libraries developed rapidly and kept ahead of other countries, largely owing
to the positive effects of Sunday-school libraries. Therefore, Sunday-school libraries deserve to be
called the pioneer of the American children’s librarianship. In addition, they offered educational
opportunities for those who could not enjoy compulsory education. By the end of the 19th century,
American public libraries were founded mainly in cities. Therefore, the reading needs of rural
people were mainly satisfied by Sunday-school libraries. As a result, their historical status in the
development of grass-roots libraries should not be denied or undervalued. Although they have
become a thing of past, their achievements should be respected.
It is innovative that Sunday-school libraries are comprehensively studied in China for
the first time. This paper focuses on the analysis of their close associations with American
elementary education, children’s libraries, public libraries and rural libraries so as to promote the
understanding of early American libraries. From the perspective of Christian doctrine exploring the
origins of public libraries and the Sunday-school libraries’ roles in rural librarianship is the main
contributions of the paper. In summary, we should evaluate their status in American library history
objectively.