The Free Library of The City of Philadelphia

    Philadelphia is a city of impressive...everything. Founded in 1682 by William Penn in an area that was inhabited by a loose confederation of First Nation people now known collectively as the Lenape, Philadelphia is probably second only to Boston in historical significance regarding the development of the United States.

   Penn was a member of the Religious Society of Friends, specifically the Quaker denomination (there are currently about 380,000 adult Quakers worldwide, about half of which reside in the African countries of Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi).

   The Quaker movement sprung up in England in the 17th century and was unique in that every member was enabled to be a minister, women included. Quakers adopted beliefs and behaviors that entailed a staunch opposition to drinking alcohol, opposing slavery, forgoing the taking of oaths, and refusal to join the military. The Quakers also dressed as plainly as possible and said "thee" a lot.

   Beliefs which factored heavily in William Penn's behavior toward the first peoples he encountered. Even though Penn had been granted the land by King Charles II of England, when he encountered the Lenape he negotiated with them the purchase of the land and signed a treaty of friendship with the Lenape chieftain Tammany.

   This approach of peaceful cohabitation with the First Peoples lead to a rare and wonderful tolerance for diversity in beliefs and practices, which in turn lead to the rapid development of Philadelphia as a trading port and seat of government, and in less than twenty years it became the single most important city in the British Colonies.

   Flash forward another 20 years and a young man named Benjamin Franklin appears on the scene. He had fled Boston at the age of 17 to escape a suffocating apprenticeship - you no doubt have heard of him and may even be aware that, as human beings with intellectual capacity goes, he was pretty much at the head of the line. 

   Franklin's beliefs were steeped in pragmatism, and one of his great skills was an ability to gather like minds and get them to focus their energy and resources for mutual self-improvement and for the benefit of the community they lived in. 

   This eventually led to Franklin and his friends opening a subscription library (pretty much a book co-op) in Philadelphia, which provided a means for the subscribing members to access the books owned by all other subscribing members, and to collectively purchase more books that all the subscribers would be able to read.

    But it wasn't a true public library. The distinction of being the first true public library in the United States belongs to the Franklin Public Library in Franklin, Mass, a city that named itself after Franklin during the American revolution - the first town to name itself after the great man. 

   When Benjamin Franklin became aware of the honor, he donated 116 books to the small town (instead of the church bell they actually wanted) and the town council decided the books should be available to all, free of charge. Thus, the first truly public library was created.

   What does all that have to do with the Free Library of the City of Philadelphia? I'm glad you asked. In the early 1890's Doctor William Pepper was bequeathed $225,000 from a wealthy Uncle for the purpose of building a Free Library in Philadelphia. The charter for the Free Library was signed in 1891, but a few other private libraries (academic, medical, religious, etc.) wanted the money for themselves and protracted court battles (which Dr Pepper ultimately won) resulted in the Free Library not opening until 1894.

   From 1895 until 1920 the library was housed in various buildings that were contemporarily described as "unsuitable", "unsafe", "unsanitary", and "overcrowded". Not exactly glowing reviews, and certainly not up to the grand and glorious free libraries that had been built in New York City and Boston.

   In 1917 ground was broken for the construction of the Parkway Central Library building on Vine Street in Philadelphia, which was to be the equal of any library building found anywhere on the the globe (unfortunately, Dr Pepper did not live to see this magnificent structure, as he had passed away in 1898 at the age of 54 from heart disease).

   The Parkway Central Library is the main library and administration center for the 54 branches of the Philadelphia Free Library system. It houses several hundred thousand books, everything from children's literature (which includes original artwork and hand written first drafts) to rare illuminated manuscripts that are 500 to 900 years old.  

   It's much more than books though. It's also an art (and craft) museum, the world's largest lending library of classical music, and can boast a collection of over 130,000 maps from all over the world.

   It took a full day to visit each of the floors and departments, a very full and enriching day. if you are ever in Philadelphia, I highly recommend a visit.