A circulating library (also known as lending libraries and rental libraries) lent books to subscribers, and was first and foremost a business venture. The intention was to profit from lending books to the public for a fee. Overview Circulating libraries offered an alternative in the 18th and 19th centuries to the large number of readers who could not afford the price of new books but also desired to quench their desire for new material. Many circulating libraries were perceived as the provider of sensational novels to a female clientele but that was not always the case. Many private circulating libraries in Europe were created for scientific and/or literary audiences. In Britain, readers in the middle classes depended on these institutions to provide access to the latest fiction novels; they required a substantial subscription that many lower class readers couldn't afford. Circulating libraries were important cultural institutions in Britain and America during the 18th and 19th centuries, affording the rising middle class access to a broad range of reading material including poetry, plays, histories, biography, philosophy, travels, and especially fiction. Circulating libraries were of three major types: specialist libraries; book clubs; and commercial libraries, which developed in major cities and most notably offered a wide collection of novels. Although university and college libraries flourished, as did special libraries for governments, associations, and businesses, these were still not open to the general public. Circulating libraries rented out bestsellers in large numbers, allowing publishers to increase their earnings and authors to increase their readership. The relationship between publishers and circulating libraries was so good that publishers offered discounts to circulating libraries. Publishers and circulating libraries became decreasingly dependent on each other in the nineteenth century for their mutual profit. Circulating libraries also influenced book publishers to keep producing expensive volume-based books instead of a single-volume format (see Three-volume novel). However, when bestselling fiction titles went out of fashion quickly, many circulating libraries were left with inventory they could neither sell nor rent out. This is one of the reasons why circulating libraries, such as Charles Edward Mudie, were eventually forced to close their doors in response to cheaper alternatives. It is complicated to precisely define circulating libraries and specifically what separates them from other types of libraries. In the time period of circulating libraries, there were other libraries, such as subscription libraries, that operated in a similar fashion but were not the same.