A cabinet de lecture (in English: reading room), sometimes also called a cabinet littéraire, was an establishment where members of the public in the 18th and 19th centuries could, in exchange for a small fee, read public papers, as well as old and new literary works. Individuals were able to hire books by the hour, making cabinets de lecture "precursors of modern libraries and an important and reliable market for books" Lyons, Martyn.