"Before the Public": Some Early Libraries of Antigua

Antigua's public library was preceded by other libraries on the island. In the 1690s Thomas Bray sent books valued at £110 to Antigua. During the 1700s literary needs were met both by the local press and through continued importation of books. Several private libraries existed. The mid-1800s, a period of great social change, saw the rise of various library organizations, including the Antigua Library Society and the Presbyterian Church Library, neither of which restricted membership by race. Difficult economic times put an end to most of the organizations, though government intervention transformed the Antigua Library Society into the public library in 1854.