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There may be no greater repository of analog information than the library, a glorious assembly of printed pages that can take us on adventures, educate us, and fill our days and nights with details of worlds beyond our own—all free of charge. Today, there are roughly 116,867 public and academic libraries dotting the country. To celebrate National Library Week, we've rounded up 25 fascinating facts about these irreplaceable institutions.
1. Benjamin Franklin started up a lending library in 1731.
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One of the oldest public libraries in the country opened in 1790 in Franklin, Massachusetts, where residents circulated books donated by Benjamin Franklin. The Founding Father once started his own lending library in 1731 in Philadelphia called the Library Company, but it required a subscription fee of 40 shillings.