<P> The advocacy of Ewart and Brotherton then succeeded in having a select committee set up to consider public library provision . The Report argued that the provision of public libraries would steer people towards temperate and moderate habits . With a view to maximising the potential of current facilities, the Committee made two significant recommendations . They suggested that the government should issue grants to aid the foundation of libraries and that the Museums Act 1845 should be amended and extended to allow for a tax to be levied for the establishment of public libraries . The Bill passed through Parliament as most MPs felt that public libraries would provide facilities for self - improvement through books and reading for all classes, and that the greater levels of education attained by providing public libraries would result in lower crime rates . </P> <P> The earliest example in England of a library to be endowed for the benefit of users who were not members of an institution such as a cathedral or college was the Francis Trigge Chained Library in Grantham, Lincolnshire, established in 1598 . The library still exists and can justifiably claim to be the forerunner of later public library systems . The beginning of the modern, free, open access libraries really got its start in the UK in 1847 . Parliament appointed a committee, led by William Ewart, on Public Libraries to consider the necessity of establishing libraries through the nation: In 1849, their report noted the poor condition of library service, it recommended the establishment of free public libraries all over the country, and it led to the Public Libraries Act in 1850, which allowed all cities with populations exceeding 10,000 to levy taxes for the support of public libraries . </P> <P> Salford Museum and Art Gallery first opened in November 1850 as "The Royal Museum & Public Library", as the first unconditionally free public library in England . The library in Campfield, Manchester was the first library to operate a free lending library without subscription in 1852 . Norwich lays claims to being the first municipality to adopt the Public Libraries Act 1850 (which allowed any municipal borough with a population of 100,000 or more to introduce a halfpenny rate to establish public libraries--although not to buy books). Norwich was the eleventh library to open, in 1857, after Winchester, Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton, Kidderminster, Cambridge, Birkenhead, and Sheffield . </P> <P> Another important act was the Education Act 1870, which increased literacy and thereby the demand for libraries . By 1877, more than 75 cities had established free libraries, and by 1900 the number had reached 300 . This finally marks the start of the public library as we know it . And these acts influenced similar laws in other countries, such as the US . The first tax - supported public library in the United States was Peterborough, New Hampshire (1833) first supported by state funds then an "Act Providing for the Establishment of Public Libraries" in 1849 . </P>

Where were collections of literature containing medieval knowledge usually housed