Quote:
Originally Posted by rhadin
Actually, Americans did oppose their creation. It took Andrew Carnegie's perserverance and wealth to establish the free, public library. Benjamin Franklin's library system, which was the original library system in America, was a for-profit library to which one paid a fee.
Carnegie, an immigrant to America who made his fortune in steel, among other enterprises, valued education and the public good. He was the original true philanthropist in that he gave away all his money to public welfare causes. He also championed free public education, which was something else most Americans opposed.
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That's really quite interesting. Thank you for pointing it out!
I lived in France for a little while, and I remember being shocked that I had to pay for access to the public library. It was a measly 9 euros a year, but it had never even
occurred to me before that people would
pay to go to the library. It just goes to show you how ingrained libraries are in our culture.
Side note: I'm from Washington D.C., and I remember being similarly shocked the first time I went to New York and had to pay to go in a
museum! Sadly, though, the era of free entry into the Smithsonian may soon be behind us
