流通图书馆是英国文化史上一种十分独特的现象,在十八、十九两个世纪对英国的出版业、大众阅读趣味乃至文学创作均曾产生极大影响。这类图书馆的业务重点在图书的流通,不以收藏、保存资料为己任,它是由私人投资兴建、以赢利为目的的。“利”从何来?来自流通,也就是来自读者借书时缴纳的租金。 首家流通图书馆是由苏格兰诗人朗姆西1726年在爱丁堡建立的。此后在英国各地迅速发展起来,历经十八、十九两个世纪鼎盛不衰,出现了布兹、穆迪、史密斯、时代图书俱乐部、陆海军图书馆等影响巨大的流通图书馆,直至本世纪二三十年代仍拥有大量读者,到七十年代走完 Circulation of the library is a very unique phenomenon in the history of British culture. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it has exerted a tremendous influence on publishing industry in the UK, public reading interest and literary creation. The focus of this type of library is circulation of books, not as a matter of collecting and preserving information. It is a private investment that is made for profit. Where does “profit” come from? Circulation, that is, rent paid by the reader when he borrowed books. The first circulation library was founded in 1726 by Scottish poet Rumsey. Since then, it has been rapidly developed in various parts of the United Kingdom. After eighteen or nineteen centuries, it has enjoyed a flourishing popularity. There appeared influential circulation libraries such as Booz, Moody’s, Smith, Times Book Club, Lu Haijun Library, etc. until this century Twenties and thirties still have a large number of readers, to the seventies finish