Honolulu Library and Reading Room Association

My exhibit of postal librariana titled "America's Public Libraries and Their Forerunners 1731 to 1956" includes a section on m...

Cincinnati's Mercantile Library

Cincinnati's Mercantile Library is one of an elite group of membership libraries that has survived into the 21st century. The library w...

Newark's Transition to a Free Public Library

America's transition from fee based membership and subscription libraries to free (to the user) public libraries occurred over a number ...

Mechanics Institute of San Francisco Cover

Last week I attended the stamp show of the American Philatelic Society in Columbus, Ohio. The APS annual show is the largest stamp show in t...

Library Scripophily

Membership libraries which required the purchase of stock or payment of a subscription fee preceded free public libraries. Library stock cer...

Washington Overdue at New York Society Library

The story about George Washington's overdue books at the New York Society Library, New York's oldest library, in the New York Dail...

Membership Law Libraries

After my post on "Surviving Membership Libraries" , David McFadden of the Leigh H. Taylor Law Library of the Southwestern Law Sc...

Surviving Membership Libraries

Benjamin Franklin referred to the Library Company of Philadelphia which he helped found in 1731 as “the mother of all North American subsc...

Working Men's Libraries

Forerunners and early competitors to America's free public libraries came in many varieties. The Working Men's Institute libraries ...

Boston Athenaeum 1848 Ticket

I recently added this 1848 library ticket (card) for the Boston Athenaeum to my collection of librariana. The ticket is signed by Athenaeum...