The town of Franklin wanted Ben Franklin to give them a bell for their steeple. Instead, he gave them books, which led to the first pubic library in America.

Franklin Public Library reference librarian Vicki Earls conducted loads of research into this literary origin story. The saga began when Benjamin Franklin was in France on a diplomatic mission.

The Franklin Public Library first came about thanks to the town's namesake, Benjamin Franklin. The town, then called "Exeter," sent a letter to Franklin in 1778 requesting that he send a bell for ...

The Franklin Public Library is located at 118 Main St. in Franklin, Massachusetts. Hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 1:30 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

The town of Franklin, Massachusetts, treasures these books from the 1700s because they are the genesis of the first and oldest public free lending library in continuous operation in America.

The Library Company reading room on Juniper Street in Philadelphia c. 1935, one of the group’s main locations from 1880 to 1935. The Library Company of Philadelphia Founding father Benjamin ...

Franklin, who left school at 10, has a powerfully “bookish inclination,” as he would later put it. He feeds off scraps in his father’s “little library” and then whatever volumes he can find.

I am writing to oppose the proposed cuts to the Lewiston Public Library’s budget. Benjamin Franklin started our first public library in Philadelphia in 1731. He later wrote, “This library ...

Franklin's Bookshop in Philadelphia, 1745. Painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, ca. 1910. Monday, Aug. 19 and Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV / Stream the 2-part series now with KPBS ...