monument in 1924. Workers fixed it
up for its 100th birthday in 1986. They
repaired the metal and applied new
gold to the flame of the torch. A
museum in the base of the statue is
open to visitors.
Liberty Bell
In Philadelphia in 1776, the Liberty Bell
rang to announce the independence of
the United States from Great Britain. At
that time, however, the bell was not
called the Liberty Bell. People who
wanted liberty, or freedom, for slaves
gave the bell its name in 1839.
The Statue of Liberty stands on
Liberty Island in New York Bay,
in the United States.
140 Liberty, Statue of BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
The Liberty Bell is mostly copper and
tin. It is 3 feet (91 centimeters) high and
12 feet (3.7 meters) around at the bottom.
It weighs about 2,080 pounds (943
kilograms). A large crack runs down one
side. On the bell is a verse from the
Bible (Leviticus 25:10): “Proclaim liberty
throughout all the land unto all the
inhabitants thereof.”
The Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly
(the colony’s group of lawmakers)
ordered the bell from Britain in 1751. In
June 1753 it was hung in the steeple of
the assembly’s building. People rang the
bell to announce meetings and public
gatherings.
Officials rang the bell on July 8, 1776,
to announce the first public reading of
the Declaration of Independence. During
the American Revolution, patriots
hid the bell from British soldiers. The
British might have melted it down to
make cannonballs.
After the war, the bell went back to the
assembly building—which was renamed
Independence Hall. The bell cracked in
1835. The crack got bigger in 1846.
Since then, the bell has not rung. In
2003 the bell was moved to a new building,
called Liberty Bell Center, near
Independence Hall.
#More to explore
American Revolution
Library
A library is a collection of resources that
provide information and entertainment.
A library has books, newspapers, magazines,
films, audio recordings, and computer
software.Workers called librarians
keep the resources in order and show
people how to find and use them. Most
A boy in a library chooses several
books to read.
The Liberty Bell hangs in Liberty
Bell Center in the U.S. city of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Library 141
libraries lend materials to people who
have a library card.
Types of Libraries
Cities and counties run public libraries.
A public library system may have many
branches, or locations, in different
neighborhoods. Public libraries offer a
library card to anyone who lives in the
area. Most public libraries have computers
that people can use for free. Many
public libraries also offer special services
for children, such as story hours.
Most elementary and high schools have
libraries. School libraries offer many of
the same resources as public libraries.
But they focus especially on meeting the
needs of students and teachers. School
librarians work closely with teachers to
make sure that they have the most useful
educational materials.
College and university libraries also
serve teachers and students. But they
usually are much larger than elementary
and high school libraries. Sometimes
they have millions of books. These
libraries often have books in many languages.
Sometimes they have rare and
very old books, too.
Organizations such as hospitals, museums,
churches, and companies might
have their own libraries. Most are open
to employees or members only.
Countries have libraries called national
libraries. Most national libraries keep a
copy of every book that is published in
their country.
Using the Library
Most libraries have books on all kinds of
subjects, from history to science to the
arts. They have novels, plays, storybooks,
and poetry books, too. The
books are organized by subject and type.
For example, all the books about music
are in one area, and all the poetry books
are in another area. Libraries often have
a special section where all the children’s
books are kept.
Most of the books in a library can be
checked out and taken home. But most
libraries also have books that cannot be
removed from the library. These books
are in an area called the reference section.
This section includes dictionaries,
encyclopedias, atlases, and almanacs.
Librarians keep track of the library’s
collection by marking each item with a
number called a call number. These
numbers tell where items can be found
on the shelves. Librarians give call numbers
to items based on different systems
for arranging them by subject or type.
In the 600s BC
the library of
Nineveh, in
Mesopotamia,
held more
than 25,000
clay tablets.
A librarian explains to some students how
to find the information they need.
142 Library BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Many librarians use the Dewey Decimal
System. In this system there are 10 main
subjects. Each of these subjects is
divided into 10 smaller sections. And
those smaller sections are further divided
into even smaller parts. Each number in
the Dewey system has at least three digits
to show these divisions. For example,
geography and history books are numbered
from 900 to 999. Books on the
history of North America are numbered
