LibraryPros

What do you know about the Library Company of Philadelphia?

“The Library Company is America’s first successful lending library and oldest cultural institution. It was founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin as a subscription library supported by its shareholders, as it is to this day.”

On the Library Company of Philadelphia website is the complete text (in PDF) of At the Instance of Benjamin Franklin: A Brief History of the Library Company of Philadelphia by The Library Company of Philadelphia, Revised and Enlarged 1995.

It’s interesting to note that this “public” library was not (and still isn’t) supported by tax money.