public library
- noun
- /ˈpʌblɪk ˈlaɪbrəri/
- The public library offers free access to a wide range of books and resources.
- local public library
- borrow from public libraries
- resources at public libraries
OK, there are so many things at your Public Library.
- OK, there are so many things at your Public Library.
- And so I I would walk over to the Fayetteville Public Library.
- So right now we're about to see how it is working in the New York Public Library.
- These donations endowed thousands of colleges, hospitals, museums, academies, schools, music venues, public libraries, and charities.
- To be fair, if you're in the US, most public libraries that you can sign up for free have audio books that you can do.
- And he was like, you know, working on his laptop, the, the laptop in the Public Library.
- I didn't realize that you guys were the first same sex couple to get married, Carrie Bradshaw style at the New York Public Library.
- It was home to public hospitals, to zoos, to well stocked public libraries, an affordable public transit system, and a tuition free City University.
- In one Sunday afternoon, I listened to this voice inside myself that said, go to the Public Library.
Examples
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Tutors can use the resources of the public library when developing their lesson plans for struggling readers.
Academic text (2013) -
Here in Milwaukee at the Shorewood Public Library, we have our MKE Stoic Fellowship.
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You ever go to the public library?
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Well, we first met, of all places, in the public library.
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Can you get it from the public library?
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Return these to the public library.
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Sign up for a workshop at a nearby college, public library, or community center.
Academic text (2011) -
And, of course, she is a big supporter of the public library's summer reading program.
Academic text (2011) -
The program is partnered with the major public library in Baltimore City.
Academic text (2013) -
We spent an afternoon together in the Salt Lake City Public Library memorizing phone books, which was scintillating.
Synonyms
A collection of books kept for people to borrow or study
A place with books you can read or borrow
A place where you borrow books to take home for a short time
How Public
- Formal
- Texting
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning of 'public library' is directly and transparently derived from 'public' (open/for everyone) + 'library' (a place for reading and borrowing), so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer a library open to the general public. This is a straightforward, compositional noun phrase following common cross-linguistic patterns, making it immediately comprehensible without special prior exposure.
Etymology
Public library comes from the simple idea of a library as a place with books that is public, meaning open to everyone. Towns and cities began to pay for a shared place of books so people could borrow them without paying, so it now means 'a library paid for by the town or city and open to everyone'.