07/05/2026
Libraries: a continuing testament to democracy
With the nation celebrating the 250th anniversary of its Independence, it is only fitting to spotlight those civil rights and personal freedoms upheld by this country's public libraries, one of the offspring of America's early revolutionary fervor.
It is no accident that the great minds and political movers of the Revolution were also the original proponents of public and subscription libraries. They believed an informed and thoughtful population was integral to the success of the new young democracy.
In 1731, years before his membership in the Continental Congress, Benjamin Franklin formed the nation's first subscription library in Philadelphia, while the Library of Congress was seeded by the personal library of Thomas Jefferson, a collection purchased by Congress after the original collection was burned in the War of 1812.
Massachusetts can proudly boast a public library tradition that includes the first major tax supported public library in the nation (Boston Public Library), and the nation's first state library agency -- the Board of Library Commissioners.
Today, public libraries continue to fulfill their function as a primarily democratic institution, underscoring those rights guaranteed by the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights: freedom of speech, religious belief and the press (as evidenced in wide-ranging book collections), freedom of assembly (offered in the use of free meeting room space), and the right to privacy (upheld by confidential patrons records and transactions).
An enduring legacy of the democratic spirit that sparked the Revolution and spawned the Constitution, public libraries remain an embodiment of those original ideals of the Constitution, offering the American populace free access to information and knowledge, cultural enrichment and recreation, and personal growth and challenge in a democratic setting.
A version of this editorial was printed by The Boston Globe in 1989
Ellen Downey Rainville, Director
