Library Facts

There are technically 4 main types of libraries:

1. Public libraries, which are open to any member of the region the library serves, and as such have to cater to all age groups and to as many languages and minorities as possible.

2. Academic libraries, which generally cater to post-secondary students, faculty, staff, and possibly alumni depending on their policies. Academic libraries are often (in Canada, at least), available to the public to a lesser extent (public access depends on their policies; you might be able to take out books, for example, but need to pay a small fee to use their databases).

3. School libraries, which are sadly extremely endangered, are the libraries at schools for primary and secondary education (in Canada that’d be elementary, junior high, and high school). Access is usually limited to students and teachers of the school. To give you an idea of how endangered they are, some provinces in Canada have done away with school libraries altogether.

4. Special libraries, which are technically every other kind of library. Their access to the public can vary wildly, from full access to no access at all. Special libraries can (and often are) broken down into several smaller groups of library types, but don’t get their own main category probably because they can usually qualify as various types of libraries at once (for example, a visual art library that’s entirely digital or a government library specifically relating to a subject like health, the environment, or the law).

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