In the separate library rooms of the colleges, a profound shift took place: the scholars abandoned the sturdy storage of the monastic chest and moved towards libraries where scholars could work with the books. The new norm became a series of lecterns with benches for seating, placed in a row in the body of the room. … This was a critical development: books were now displayed openly rather than safely locked away in chests or cabinets. Readers could consult many texts in a short space of time, essential for the sort of textual work we associate with the advance of learning. But it also meant books could go missing with greater ease: by 1338, over 300 of the 2,000 volumes in the possession of the College of the Sorbonne had already disappeared.

Andrew Pettegree, Arthur der Weduwen, The Library- A Fragile Hist…, loc. 110