Eighteenth-century libraries served as social gathering places as much as study spaces

Evidence

The university library of Göttingen, one of the largest institutional libraries in eighteenth-century Europe. The space for conversation makes clear that libraries continued to be places of social interaction as much as study: perhaps another reason why one Göttingen professor suggested that a university library was not so necessary a service after all. — Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen, The Library- A Fragile History, 955

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: the long social history of libraries as these were social spaces before they became silent repositories — connecting to modern debates about libraries as community hubs.
• XREF: Connects to the standing interest in silence as a constructed value — libraries were not always quiet places. — connects to: Public libraries shifted from learning institutions to social services by the 1960s — Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen, The Library- A Fragile History, 823; Random browsing distinguishes libraries from other community spaces — Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen, The Library- A Fragile History, 942
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen, The Library- A Fragile History, 955