Library Company of Philadelphia

library, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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June 30, 2026

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The Library Company of Philadelphia is a historic subscription library founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1731. It was one of the most famous subscription libraries, popular from the late 17th to the 19th century, and is still in existence today. These libraries were often established by scholarly groups but were also open to the general public. The Library Company of Philadelphia is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.12

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Benjamin Franklin
Achievements and inventions of Benjamin Franklin
…to the organization of the Library Company of Philadelphia. Through the Junto, Franklin proposed a paid city watch, or police force. A paper read to the same group resulted in the organization of a volunteer fire company. In 1743 he sought an intercolonial version of the Junto, which led to…
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…to the organization of the Library Company of Philadelphia. Through the Junto, Franklin proposed a paid city watch, or police force. A paper read to the same group resulted in the organization of a volunteer fire company. In 1743 he sought an intercolonial version of the Junto, which led to…
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library
Subscription libraries
…the most famous are the Library Company of Philadelphia, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1731; the Boston Athenaeum, founded in 1807; and the London Library, opened largely at the request of Thomas Carlyle in 1841, which today has a wide-ranging collection for loan to its members in their homes.
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…the most famous are the Library Company of Philadelphia, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1731; the Boston Athenaeum, founded in 1807; and the London Library, opened largely at the request of Thomas Carlyle in 1841, which today has a wide-ranging collection for loan to its members in their homes.
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