Arguably the most famous portrait of Benjamin Franklin.  

Our Founding Grandfather

Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) was old enough to be father to George Washington and John Adams. He was also old enough (perhaps) to be grandfather to James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. He was the oldest signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

One of the earliest images of Benjamin Franklin – when he was around 40.

Benjamin Franklin today is considered a “polymath.” Or a Renaissance Man of the Age of Enlightenment. Call him what you will, he was a towering figure of imagination, determination, wisdom, wit, and dare we say, genius. Happily for posterity, all those qualities were dedicated to the betterment of mankind.

Born in Massachusetts, he left for the opportunities of Philadelphia when he was seventeen, and began a lifelong mutual love affair with the city.

Having apprenticed as a printer, he hoped to start his own printing establishment, and went to London to purchase equipment. It was the first of many trips to the great city. His expected funds did not materialize, so he returned sans equipment, but with a wealth of experiences and knowledge that would change his life, and even the lives of those around him.

He had made frequent visits to the various coffee houses in London, where men of prominence, education, talents and/or perhaps just the desire to be in august company met to discuss philosophical issues.

Franklin was deeply impressed with these informal congregations, returned to Philadelphia, hired on with another printing establishment, and promptly formed a Philosophical Society – a group of like-minded individuals wishing to engage in serious and philosophical conversation. He was only twenty-five.

The Society: Mission and Problems

Franklin and his early Junto colleagues.

The challenge of attracting a group of like-minded men was not difficult. What was somewhat of a problem, was finding sufficient resource material to supplement their discussions, which ranged on subjects from theology to science, literature, economics and political government.

Books were a rarity in 1730’s America. They were also hugely expensive. Other than the universities, only the wealthy, and perhaps the clergy, had access to a personal library, and that included Franklin himself.

Some members of means donated books from their personal collections, but most were theological, and insufficient for their needs. They were also mostly written in Latin, and the Junto was especially eager to have books available in English, their native tongue. They quickly realized that if they combined their resources, books could be purchased and made available to each other – and perhaps even to others. According to Ben himself, in his autobiography, “…by thus clubbing our books to a common library, we should, while we lik’d to keep them together, have each of us the advantage of using the books of all the other members, which would be nearly as beneficial as if each owned the whole.”

Franklin donated several of his own books.

Fifty members of the Philadelphia Junto, or Philosophical Society, subscribed to contribute 40 shillings each with which to purchase books for a library they would collectively share. They also agreed to invest an additional 10 shillings a year to keep their library current.

In 1732, their first order for books was sent to London, and they were off and running. The books were entrusted to the Librarian, a position that changed fairly frequently in the early days. The  books were housed wherever the Librarian lived.

As an aside, Ben Franklin served as a librarian and also as secretary to the association for a time. But other than meticulous documentation of his scientific experiments, he was never a good record keeper.

As expected, by the mid-1740s, record-keeping became a problem. An even greater problem was where to house those books! For a while, the Society maintained its collection on the second floor of the Pennsylvania State House, better known today as Independence Hall.

Notwithstanding the inconveniences, the lending concept was a huge success. Members of the Society could borrow-and-return books free of charge. Even non-members could avail themselves of the privilege, although they were required to pay some collateral, returnable along with the book.

The library is still around!

The concept and the practice was such a huge success, that other towns and cities copied the idea, which included forming another library in Philadelphia. The Philosophical Society merged with it by 1770, and its catalog listed more than 20,000 entries.

More Than Books

It came to pass (as one might expect) that by the 1760s and 70s, more than just books were being added to the Library’s catalog.

The collection now included plans and specifications for an orrery (an early device displaying the rotation of the planets around the sun), various coins (some from antiquity), fossils, geological specimens, flora and fauna, as well as scientific instruments, such as an early air pump and microscope and various telescopes. Then there were rare Eskimo parkas and tools from a Northwest Passage expedition. Plus an Egyptian mummy.

Carpenters Hall housed the library for about 6 years.

Even before the Continental Congress used that second floor of the State House for its meetings, the Society’s Library once again had to find new quarters. They were simply running out of room. Carpenter’s Hall had recently been completed nearby, and the second floor of that building was made available. For a brief time the Library shared space with the First Continental Congress, who were delighted to avail themselves of that body of knowledge. John Adams recorded that the site selection committee had a taken “a View of the Room, and of the Chamber where is an excellent Library.”

Take a Bow, Dr. F.

Benjamin Franklin was duly proud of his free lending library concept. When he wrote his autobiography many years later, he listed it as one of his true accomplishments, saying  “these Libraries have improved the general Conversation of Americans, made the common Tradesmen and Farmers as intelligent as most Gentlemen from other Countries, and perhaps have contributed in some Degree to the Stand so generally made throughout the Colonies in Defence [sic] of their Priviledges [sic].”

Sources:

Franklin, Benjamin – The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin – Signet Classics (reprint) 2014

Lending Library

https://www.ushistory.org/FRANKLIN/philadelphia/library.htm