Libraries and schools aboard sailing warships

When did libraries become standard aboard ships?

Book collections were common in the sailing navy, but only a tentative seventeenth- or eighteenth-century period is given for their spread.

Captains in the sailing navy often carried substantial book collections aboard their ships. They used books to train midshipmen and help petty officers learn to read and write. A ship could therefore have a school as well as a library. The date when libraries became standard remains uncertain, with only a tentative seventeenth- or eighteenth-century estimate offered.